BS  2530  .P8  1918 
Purdy,  Alexander  C. 
The  way  of  Christ 


1890- 


THE  WAY  OF  CHRIST 

TEN  STUDIES  IN  DISCIPLESHIP 


ALEXANDER  C.  PURDY 


The  Way  of  Christ 

Studies  in  Discipleship 


ALEXANDER  C.  PURDY 

BIBLICAL  DEPARTMENT,  EARLHAM  COLLEGE 


THE  WOMANS  PRESS 

600  Lexington  Avenue 

NEW  YORK  CITY 

1918 


Copyright,  July,  1918,  by 

National  Board  of  the  Young  Women's  Christian  Assoclations 

or  THE  United  States  of  America 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER  p^gg 

I.    The  "Set"  of  a  Life 9 


II.  The  Beginnings 23 

III.  The  Statesmanship  of  Jesus 38 

IV.  Jesus'  Idea  of  the  New  Order 52 

V.  Conditions  of  Entrance 65 

VI.  The  Ideal  Citizen 70 

VII.  The  Inner  Attitude 91 

VIII.  The  Law  of  Love 104 

IX.  The  Citizen  and  Society 116 

X.  The  Capital  City  of  the  Kingdom        .     .      .131 

A  Teaching  Outline        145 


PLAN  OF  THE  BOOK 

This  book  is  meant  to  lead  the  reader  directly  to  the  Bible. 
It  is  for  this  reason  that  certain  references  grouped  under 
the  head  of  biblical  material  stand  at  the  beginning  of  each 
chapter.  A^  number  of  questions  designed  to  open  up  the 
biblical  pas*sages  follow.  These  references  and  questions 
should  be  thoughtfully  studied  before  the  material  of  the 
chapter  is  read. 

The  chapter  itself  will  then  tend  to  gather  up  the  results  of 
the  personal  study  and  focus  the  attention  upon  certain  defi- 
nite points  which  may  then  serve  as  profitable  topics  for  group 
discussions. 

An  outline  for  group  discussion  is  appended  at  the  back  of 
the  book  for  the  benefit  of  the  leader,  and  the  purpose  of  the 
study  is  there  indicated. 


CHAPTER  I 

THE  "SET"  OF  A  LIFE 
SUGGESTIONS  FOR  PERSONAL  STUDY 

Biblical  Material. 

1.  Read  Luke  i:5,  6;  46-55,  67-79-  Try  to  characterize  this 
group  of  people. 

2.  Look  for  evidence  of  Jesus'  acquaintance  with  the  great 
prophets;  Cf.  Isaiah  29:13  with  Mark  7:6;  Hosea  6:6  with 
Mt.  9:13;  Isaiah  6i:iff  with  Luke  4:i6ff,  etc. 

3.  Read  and  study  Luke  2  :40-52. 

I.  The  Importance  of  Getting  a  Good  Start. 

1.  Read  the  preface  of  Luke's  gospel  (1:1-4),  noting  the 
care  with  which  he  has  selected  his  materials.  Why  did  he 
pick  out  this  one  incident  (Luke  2  :40-52)  from  the  early  years 
of  Jesus'  life? 

2.  When  is  Jesus  usually  said  to  have  begun  his  life  work? 
Is  there  any  sense  in  which  we  may  say  that  He  began  his  life 
work  before  his  entrance  upon  the  public  ministry?  In  what 
sense  did  He  begin  his  life  work  as  a  boy  of  twelve? 

3.  Why  was  it  important  that  Jesus  set  the  compass  of  his 
life  so  early? 

4.  Why  is  a  good  start  of  such  importance  in  any  field  of 
endeavor?  Why  is  it  important  from  the  point  of  view  of 
the  individual?  Of  those  with  whom  he  lives?  Of  the  task 
he  may  have  to  do  ? 

9 


THE  WAY  OF  CHRIST 

II.  What  Constitutes  a  Good  Start? 

1.  Name  the  elements  which  entered  into  Jesus'  experience 
in  the  temple.  Which  was  the  most  important,  his  home 
traming,  his  own  awakening  understanding,  or  a  sense  of 
the  world's  need? 

2.  Just  what  did  Jesus  do  to  start  his  life  work?  What 
is  the  significance  of  the  silence  of  the  records  at  this  point? 
Was  this  "start"  marked  by  outer  achievement  or  inner 
attitude? 

3.  What  constitutes  a  good  start  for  any  life  ?  Is  there  any 
world  need  to-day  comparable  to  the  need  of  Jesus'  world? 
Is  there  any  "hope"  to-day  as  widespread  as  the  Kingdom 
hope  in  Jesus'  day? 


I.  The  First  Picture  of  Jesus. 

We  know  almost  nothing  about  the  boy  Jesus.  Just  a  few 
sentences  sum  up  the  story  of  the  first  thirty  years.  Into 
those  obscure  years  of  his  boyhood  and  young  manhood  legend 
and  myth  have  sought  to  peer,  but  the  gospel  history  grants 
us  only  one  clear  picture.  Luke,  the  artist  of  the  evangelists, 
has  drawn  it  for  us  with  a  few  swift  strokes  of  his  pen[ 
and  it  is  a  priceless  treasure.  We  could  not  do  without  it,' 
for  the  features  of  its  central  figure  are  drawn  with  such 
sure,  firm  lines  that  we  know  Him  better  from  this  single 
picture  than  a  score  of  less  revealing  sketches  could  have 
told  us. 

Road    again    the    familiar    story    of   the    boy   Jesus    in    the 

10 


THE  "SET"  OF  A  LIFE 

temple  (Luke  2:41-50).  We  have  reason  to  be  thankful  for  it, 
not  because  it  shows  what  an  abnormal  lad  Jesus  was  to  be 
there  listening  to  the  deep  talk  of  theologians  and  asking 
them  from  time  to  time  questions  that  amazed  them.  Jesus 
always  had  that  gift.  He  could  ask  questions  that  searched 
honest  men's  souls  and  bared  the  plots  of  scoundrels  and  it 
is  not  so  astonishing  that  as  a  boy  of  twelve  He  had  that 
faculty.  Most  twelve-year-olds  ask  questions  that  go  straight 
to  the  heart  of  things  and  leave  older  folk  with  no  adequate 
answers. 

But  read  on.  He  becomes  so  interested  in  what  these 
graybeards  are  talking  about  that  He  actually  forgets  the 
home  journey  and  the  home-going  kinsfolk,  and  the  hour  set 
for  departure  comes  and  goes.  His  parents  leave,  thinking  Him 
in  the  company.  They  discover  their  mistake  and  hurry  back 
to  find  Him  in  the  temple  sitting  at  the  feet  of  the  rabbis, 
listening  to  them  and  asking  questions.  Then,  the  half  hesi- 
tant reproach,  "Son,  why  have  you  treated  us  in  this  way? 
Think  how  anxiously  your  father  and  I  have  been  searching 
for  you !"  And  He  turns  to  them,  this  twelve-year-old  peasant 
boy,  and  asks,  "Why  have  you  been  searching  for  me?  Did 
you  not  know  that  I  must  be  about  my  Father's  business  ?"  It 
seems  a  strange  answer.  Can  we  hope  to  understand  it  and 
the  boy  who  uttered  it? 

II.  What  People  Thought  About  Religion  in  Jesus*  Day. 

Was  Jesus'  reply  to  his  parents  simply  the  answer  of  a 
strange  and  wonderful  boy,  with  a  halo  around  his  head? 
May  we  not  come  at  it  from  another  angle?  What  could 
those  graybeards  have  been  discussing  as  they  talked  there 
in    the    temple — the    latest    scribal    interpretation    of    what 

II 


THE  WAY  OF  CHRIST 

Rabbi  So-and-so  had  said  concerning  Rabbi  So-and-so's  ex- 
planation of  a  dry-as-dust  legal  tradition?  Such  talk  would 
never  have  caused  any  boy  to  forget  father  and  mother  and 
home.  But  there  was  one  subject  which  would  enthrall  every 
earnest  Jewish  boy,— the  Kingdom,  the  coming  Kingdom. 

Just  as  so  many  hearts  are  athrill  with  the  hope  of  a  coming 
world  democracy  to-day,  so  the  coming  Kingdom  was  the 
dream  of  every  Jewish  patriot  and  the  hope  of  every  pious 
home.  It  was  the  silver  thread  woven  into  the  dark  fabric  of 
Jewish  history.  In  the  blackest  night  great  prophets  told  of 
the  dawning  of  a  better  day  when  David's  glorious  reign 
should  be  equaled  and  indeed  surpassed,  and  Messiah  should 
come  to  rule  the  world  and  restore  the  Jews  to  their  rightful 
dominion.  What  other  subject  could  have  engaged  the 
thoughts  of  those  wise  theologians  and  that  eager  peasant  boy? 
What  more  natural  than  that  the  boy  Jesus  should  have 
asked.  When  and  how  will  this  day  come  ? 

There  were  Pharisees  among  the  teachers  in  the  temple 
that  day,  and  we  know  pretty  well  how  a  spokesman  from 
that  party  would  have  answered  the  question.  "The  king- 
dom," he  would  have  replied,  "belongs  to  another  world 
order  than  this.  We  cannot  bring  it  in  by  political  revolt 
against  Rome  or  by  social  revolution,  for  it  is  the  Kingdom 
of  the  age  that  is  to  be.  We  know  not  when  it  will  come, 
but  this  we  do  know,  that  it  will  be  inaugurated  by  signs  and 
portents.  The  sun  will  be  darkened,  the  moon  will  become 
bloody,  the  stars  will  drop  from  their  places.  There  will  be 
a  terrible  catastrophe.  The  forces  of  Jehovah  will  battle  vic- 
toriously with  the  evil  spirits  and  then  will  the  new  world 
come.  It  will  be  let  down  out  of  the  heavens  upon  the 
earth.     Messiah  will  rule  upon  the  throne  of  David  and  the 

12 


THE  "SET"  OF  A  LIFE 

sons  of  Abraham  will  inherit  the  kingdom  prepared  for 
them.  All  our  enemies  will  have  been  slain  by  the  sword 
of  Jehovah,  and  the  Jewish  nation,  revived,  restored  and  glori- 
fied, will  come  into  its  own.  And  if  we  hope  to  share  in 
this  glorious  day  we  must  be  good  Jews.  Observe  the  law 
with  scrupulous  exactness,  every  jot  and  tittle.  And  the 
traditions  of  the  elders  and  the  interpretations  of  the  scribes, 
these  are  of  vital  importance.  Tithe  and  fast  and  pray  and 
sabbatize  with  meticulous  care," 

And  then  perhaps  a  representative  of  the  sect  of  the  Essenes, 
clad  in  spotless  white,  would  speak.  '1  agree  with  the 
Pharisee  as  to  the  nature  of  the  Kingdom  and  its  coming,"  he 
would  say,  "but  that  we  may  prepare  for  participation  in  it 
we  would  do  well  to  withdraw  from  the  world  with  its  sordid 
cares  and  material  ambitions  and  live  in  meditation  and 
prayer.  Ceremonial  purity  is  essential  for  entrance  into  the 
coming  Kingdom  and  one  must  renounce  worldly  concerns 
and  business  afifairs,  trade,  gain  and  the  like." 

There  might  even  be  a  Sadducee  present  who  would  ven- 
ture to  speak.  His  remarks  would  run  like  this,  "I  care 
little  for  theology.  It's  a  mistake  to  fill  the  heads  of  the 
people  with  such  wild  ideas  as  these.  I  take  no  stock  in  any 
fanciful  notions  of  a  coming  Kingdom.  Affairs  are  going 
well  as  they  are.  So  long  as  the  Sadducees  hold  the  priest- 
hood, the  nation  is  in  good  hands.  The  poor  will  always 
grumble,  but  it  is  the  part  of  wisdom  to  make  the  best  of 
things  as  they  are.  Rome  is  a  powerful  state  and  we  had 
best  live  on  good  terms  with  her.  The  Sadducees  are  setting 
the  best  example." 

Only  voices  such  as  these  would  have  been  heard  in  that 
group   that   day,  but   they   were   not  the   only   voices   in   the 

13 


THE  WAY  OF  CHRIST 

Palestine  of  Jesus*  day.  Though  but  a  boy,  He  would  have 
heard  in  Galilean  Nazareth  and  on  the  journey  to  Jerusalem 
the  cry  of  the  poor.  "Oh,  that  some  deliverer  would  appear! 
We  common  folk  would  hear  him  gladly.  We  would  make 
him  king  and  follow  him  in  any  attempt  to  cast  off  the 
Roman  yoke  and  set  up  a  Jewish  political  state  here  and  now. 
The  Pharisee  and  the  Sadducee  can  afford  to  wait  and  specu- 
late about  a  Kingdom  in  the  far  distant  future,  but  we,  who 
feel  the  burden  of  poverty  and  who  know  what  it  is  to  be 
hungry  and  cold,  want  relief  now." 

And  still  another  voice  would  be  sounding  in  Jesus'  ears 
as  He  listened  to  the  scholars  in  the  temple  that  day.  He 
would  be  remembering  the  hopes  and  ideals  of  the  home 
circle  from  which  He  had  come.  The  quiet,  devout  spirit  of 
Mary,  his  mother,  and  her  kinswoman,  Elizabeth,  would  not 
be  forgotten.  He  would  have  been  told  of  the  words  of 
Zacharias  (Luke  i  :68-79)  and  of  the  aged  Simeon  (Luke 
2:29-32).  We  need  to  remember  when  we  think  of  the  Jews 
of  Jesus'  day  that  they  were  not  all  like  the  formal  Pharisee 
and  the  worldly  Sadducee.  The  first  pages  of  Luke  give  us  a 
picture  of  very  different  folk,  simple  and  devout.  They 
named  their  sons  after  the  old  Hebrew  patriarchs.  Note  the 
names  of  the  sons  in  Jesus'  home:  James  (or  Jacob),  Joseph, 
Simon,  Judas  (Mt.  13:55)-  In  such  quiet  lives  the  noblest 
spirit  of  the  Old  Testament  lived  on. 

The  boy  Jesus  would  be  thinking,  too,  of  the  lessons  He 
had  learned  in  the  village  synagogue  school.  The  great  open- 
ing words  of  the  Jewish  confession  of  faith,  "Hear,  O  Israel, 
Jehovah  our  God  is  one  Jehovah,  and  thou  sh'alt  love  Jehovah 
thy  God  with  all  thy  heart,  and  with  all  thy  soul,  and  with  all 
thy   might"    (Deut.   6:4),    were   perhaps    the   first  words    He 

14 


THE  "SET"  OF  A  LIFE 

had  been  taught  to  repeat.  He  would  be  remembering  the 
words  of  the  great  prophets  with  their  insistence  upon  justice, 
mercy,  love  and  righteousness,  such  words  as  Amos  spoke, 
"Hate  the  evil  and  love  the  good  and  establish  justice  in  the 
gate"  (5:15);  and  Hosea,  "I  desire  goodness  and  not  sacri- 
fice, and  the  knowledge  of  God  more  than  burnt  offerings" 
(6 :6)  ;  and  Micah,  ",  .  .  what  doth  Jehovah  require  of 
thee  but  to  do  justly,  and  to  love  kindness,  and  to  walk 
humbly  with  thy  God"  (6 :8)  ;  and  the  new  covenant  of  Jere- 
miah (31 131-34)  ;  and  the  Servant  Poems  of  Isaiah. 

Is  it  too  much  to  suppose  that  ideals  and  hopes  were  the 
subject  of  discussion  in  the  temple  that  day  and  that  widely 
divergent  opinions  were  even  then  confronting  the  boy  Jesus  ? 
See  how  such  a  background  lights  up  the  puzzling  answer 
He  gave  his  mother. 

III.  The  Dawn  of  a  Great  Purpose. 

And  He  said  to  them,  "Why  have  you  been  searching  for 
me?  Did  you  not  know  that  I  must  be  about  my  Father's 
business?"  The  halo  fades  from  the  picture.  We  no  longer 
see  the  boy  Jesus  in  the  dim  half-light  of  magic  and  mystery. 
His  is  neither  the  wan,  drawn  face  of  an  ascetic  nor  the 
precocious  face  of  a  prodigy.  But  Luke  has  drawn  for  us 
the  earnest,  strong  features  of  a  manly  peasant  lad.  It  is  a 
face  alight  with  hope  and  glorified  with  a  dawning  purpose.  He 
is  saying  to  his  father  and  mother,  These  things  I  have  been 
hearing,  and  the  noble  prophetic  ideals  and  the  hopes  which 
you  have  told  me  of  at  home — all  this  is  my  Father's  busi- 
ness. And  to-day  I  know,  as  you,  too,  cannot  help  knowing, 
that  I  must  be  about  this,  my  Father's  business.  This  is  to 
/)e  my  life  task. 

15 


THE  WAY  OF  CHRIST 

It  is  not  given  us  to  know  how  much  or  little  He  under- 
stood of  his  own  life  that  stretched  out  before  Him,  but 
these  were  the  words  He  spoke.  The  compass  of  his  life 
was  set.  He  could  return  now  to  Nazareth  to  be  "obedient 
to  them." 

IV.  The  Silent  Years. 

For  eighteen  years  He  lived  in  Nazareth.  Not  a  word  do 
we  have  from  the  records  about  those  years  save  the  very 
general  statement  of  Luke  that  He  "advanced  in  wisdom  and 
stature  and  in  favor  with  God  and  man."  Yet  we  may 
picture  the  Jesus  of  the  silent  years  with  reasonable  cer- 
tainty, for  his  teaching  and  life  during  the  three  years  of 
public  ministry  reveal  what  manner  of  boy  and  man  He  must 
have  been  in  Nazareth  of  Galilee. 

They  were  years  of  labor.  We  have  been  wrong  in  think- 
ing that  his  trade  was  an  aside  which  merely  occupied  his 
hands  while  brain  and  heart  were  up  in  the  clouds.  In 
all  probability  He  was  a  builder  of  houses  and  not  simply  a 
small  carpenter  who  did  repair  work  in  his  father's  shop. 

"His  interest  in  the  foundations  of  the  temple,  his  parable 
of  the  houses  built  on  the  rock  or  on  the  sand  (Mt.  7:24-27), 
his  allusions  to  the  destruction  of  the  temple  and  to  its  being 
rebuilt  (John  2:19,  20),  to  the  man  who  pulled  down  his 
granaries  that  he  might  build  larger  (Luke  12:18),  and  to 
the  builder  who  exhausted  his  resources  before  completing  his 
work  (Luke  14:28-30),  all  imply  that  Jesus  was  a  master 
builder."  * 

We  may  picture  his  social  life  in  that  small  city,  Nazareth. 

*  Kent :  Life  and  Teachings  of  Jesus,  p.  55. 

16 


THE  "SET"  OF  A  LIFE 

Nowhere  is  there  a  better  chance  of  coming  into  contact  with 
all  kinds  of  folk,  genuine  and  hypocritical,  generous  and 
selfish,  queer  and  conventional,  than  in  a  small  town.  Was 
it  in  these  years  that  Jesus  acquired  his  marvelous  knowledge 
of  human  nature?  Men  do  not  suddenly  learn  after  reaching 
the  age  of  thirty  years  to  be  equally  at  home  with  rich  and 
poor,  learned  and  ignorant,  nor  are  they  welcomed  at  wed- 
ding feasts  if  for  thirty  years  they  have  been  living  hermit 
lives.  Jesus  must  have  known  and  liked  his  townspeople  and 
in  turn  He  must  have  been  liked  by  them. 

We  may  with  all  confidence  think  of  Him  as  rejoicing  in 
the  great  out-of-doors  in  these  eighteen  years,  for  as  Paul 
loves  illustrations  from  cities  and  soldiers  and  athletics,  so 
Jesus'  teachings  are  full  of  birds  and  flowers  and  fields. 

We  may  think  of  Him  as  in  close  touch  with  the  larger 
world  of  men.  Had  He  world  problems  to  face  in  those 
silent  years?  Was  He  confronted  with  anything  comparable 
to  the  surging  world  issues  which  challenge  young  people 
to-day? 

"It  has  been  a  common  mistake  to  think  of  Nazareth  as 
a  quiet  spot  far  from  the  life  of  the  great  world,  where  Jesus 
was  nurtured  in  seclusion.  That  is  far  from  the  truth.  .  .  . 
The  smiling  waters  of  Galilee  lay  scarce  more  than  fifteen 
miles  to  the  east.  Only  a  few  miles  farther  to  the  north- 
west was  the  Mediterranean.  Nearby  ran,  north  and  south, 
the  great  highway  which  for  centuries  joined  the  ancient 
kingdoms  of  Egypt  and  Babylonia.  .  .  .  Just  below,  to  the 
south,  was  the  great  plain  of  Esdraelon,  where  so  many  of 
Israel's  battles  had  been  fought.  All  about  was  the  teeming 
life  of  Galilee  with  its  numberless  villages  and  cities.  .  .  . 
From  the  hills  above  his  home  He  must  have  seen  at  times  the 

17 


THE  WAY  OF  CHRIST 

Roman  legions  on  their  march,  and  Roman  rulers  with  their 
brilliant  following."  * 

Nazareth  was  far  less  provincial  in  its  interests  and  asso- 
ciations than  many  an  American  city. 

But  what  of  his  inner  life?  Did  He  sometimes  ask  Him- 
self during  those  long  years,  When  will  my  time  come?  As 
He  stood  at  dusk  or  sunrise  on  the  hills  above  Nazareth  and 
looked  out  over  the  Galilean  plains  or  caught  a  glint  of  the 
blue  waters  of  the  Mediterranean  far  to  the  northwest,  did 
He  ask,  Will  all  my  life  be  like  this?  Did  He  sometimes 
forget  the  great  purpose  which  He  had  expressed  in  those 
boyhood  days  of  awakening  understanding?  No,  He  never 
forgot  or  wavered.  How  do  we  know?  Because  when  his 
hour  struck  He  was  absolutely  ready.  When  the  call  came 
for  a  larger  service,  He  heard  a  voice  saying,  "Thou  art  my 
beloved  Son,  in  Thee  I  am  well  pleased."  Well  pleased  at 
what?  we  may  ask.  He  had  neither  preached  nor  healed  nor 
ministered  in  any  public  way.  He  must  have  been  well  pleas- 
ing to  his  heavenly  Father  in  the  unrecorded  toil  as  a 
carpenter,  in  his  daily  dealings  with  the  people  of  Nazareth, 
in  the  commonplace  routine  of  daily  living.  Even  there  He 
felt  the  imperative  to  "be  about  my  Father's  business." 

This  single  purpose  dominated  his  life  from  first  to  last. 
Always  the  direction  of  his  life  was  the  same.  As  the  little 
trickle  of  water  gathers  moisture  from  this  slope  and  that 
and  widens,  deepens,  broadens,  growing  in  power  and  momen- 
tum until  in  majesty  it  pours  its  mighty  waters  into  the 
ocean,  so  through  Jesus'  life  there  flowed  this  stream  of  pur- 
pose, broadening,  deepening,  widening  as  the  years  went  on 

*  Rail :   New  Testament  History,  p.  z^. 

i8 


THE  "SEV  OF  A  LIFE 

but  ever  making  in  the  same  direction,  his  Father's  business, 
his  Father's  will  for  Him. 

V.  The  "Set"  of  a  Life. 

The  first  picture  we  have  of  Jesus  reveals  Him  as  a  boy 
who  at  the  age  of  twelve  had  a  single  clear-cut  purpose. 
There  is  not  the  slightest  hint  that  He  knew  where  that  pur- 
pose would  lead  him,  nor  is  there  a  suggestion  that  He  had 
a  solution  to  offer  for  the  tangled  religious  and  political 
problems  of  the  day.  He  was  but  a  lad,  and  the  marvelously 
revealing  story  which  Luke  has  left  us  does  not  picture  Him 
as  rebuking  the  Sadducee  or  correcting  the  Pharisee  or  sym- 
pathizing with  the  Revolutionist.  But  He  did  hear  the  call 
of  the  Kingdom,  and  in  response  to  that  call  He  promised 
but  one  thing  for  the  needs  of  humanity  and  that  was — 
Himself.  He  gave  the  supreme  gift  that  any  human  being 
can  offer  to  the  world, — an  unexhausted,  untainted,  potential 
personality,  strong  with  the  strength  of  gathering  energies, 
buoyant  with  the  hope  and  promise  of  youth.  That  was  his 
gift  when  He  said,  "I  must  be  about  my  Father's  business." 

Our  study  is  to  be  about  citizenship  in  the  great  democracy 
of  God  that  is  to  be,  but  so  far  we  have  not  explained  who 
the  citizens  are  or  indeed  what  constitutes  citizenship.  Ought 
we  not  to  begin  by  defining  and  discussing  and  speculating 
about  these  things?  Or,  on  the  other  hand,  was  this  just 
the  mistake  the  Pharisees  made?  They  put  theory  and  the- 
ology first  and  personal  dedication  to  the  needs  of  the  world 
and  the  cause  of  righteousness,  second.  Jesus  reversed  the 
order.  He  gave  his  life  to  the  cause  of  God  and  let  that 
lead  Him  where  it  would.  He  was  not  committed  to  any 
theory  or  program  save  the  program  of  God  as  that  would 

19 


THE  WAY  OF  CHRIST 

unfold  itself  to  Him  through  the  eighteen  years  of  obscurity 
which  followed. 

Citizenship  to-day  begins  where  Jesus  began,  with  a  per- 
sonal dedication  to  the  things  that  are  right  and  clean  and 
true,  to  the  things  the  world  needs,  to  the  things  of  God. 
It  involves  in  the  first  instance  not  the  acceptance  of  a  theory 
'but  simply  the  resolute  "set"  of  the  soul  toward  the  "right  as 
God  gives  us  to  know  the  right."  A  goodly  heritage  and 
high  ideals,  a  rich  background  of  home  influences,  these 
values  are  as  priceless  to-day  as  they  were  when  the  boy 
Jesus  first  faced  the  great  world  and  its  need,  but  they  are 
not  enough.  Behind  all  this,  using  it  all  and  building  upon 
it,  there  must  be  an  unswerving  personal  purpose.  If  there 
be  such  a  regnant  purpose  in  the  beginning  of  life,  men  and 
issues  fall  into  line  behind  it  or  are  judged  by  it  and 
rejected. 

The  man  or  woman,  though  neither  brilliant  nor  talented, 
whose  life  is  organized  by  a  sufficient  purpose,  moves  steadily 
through  the  years,  making  every  opportunity  for  study,  every 
bit  of  experience,  every  social  and  athletic  achievement,  every 
single  individual  encountered,  pay  tribute  to  that  purpose. 
There  is  not  a  human  vocation  which  does  not  call  for  such 
singleness  of  aim.  The  initial  achievement  for  any  task  is 
not  the  mastering  of  the  task  but  the  mastering  of  the  self, 
the  "set  of  the  soul"  to  some  sufficient  goal. 

It  is  not  otherwise  in  the  Kingdom  of  God. 

"One  ship  drives  east,  another  drives  west 

While  the  self-same  breezes  blow. 
'Tis  the  set  of  the  sails  and  not  the  gales 

That  bids  them  where  to  go. 

20 


THE  "SET"  OF  A  LIFE 

"Like  the  winds  of  the  sea  are  the  ways  of  the  fates 

As  we  voyage  along  through  Hfe, 
'Tis  the  set  of  the  soul  that  decides  the  goal 

And  not   the   storm   or   the   strife." 

VI.  The  Purpose  Tested. 

If  we  are  to  form  any  true  estimate  of  the  power  and 
meaning  of  Jesus'  boyhood  purpose,  we  must  look  for  just  a 
moment  down  the  vista  of  the  years,  those  three  tumultuous 
years.  Through  what  a  maze  of  passion  and  human  need, 
hostility  and  adulation,  triumph  and  disaster.  He  moves  un- 
disturbed !  Temptations  real  and  powerful  assail  Him.  He 
checks  them  up  with  his  purpose.  Has  this  anything  to  do 
with  God's  plan  for  me?  He  seems  to  say.  H  not.  He  sweeps 
it  aside.  It  is  powerless  to  touch  Him.  Easy  popularity  lies 
within  his  grasp  but  He  deliberately  rejects  it,  because  per- 
sonal popularity  in  itself  does  not  mean  the  accomplishment 
of  his  purpose.  Just  as  deliberately  He  antagonizes  the  most 
powerful  forces  in  the  land  because  they  block  the  way  to  the 
accomplishment  of  that  purpose. 

He  moves  among  social  outcasts  and  moral  degenerates 
but  they  do  not  pollute  Him;  rather  He  saves  them.  With 
equal  freedom  He  associates  with  people  of  wealth  and  cul- 
ture and  they  do  not  rob  Him  of  his  purpose  or  cause  Him 
to  "ease  down." 

Even  the  last  terrible  temptation  to  turn  aside  from  the 
path  which  leads  to  the  Cross  prevails  not.  "He  steadfastly 
set  his  face  to  go  to  Jerusalem"   (Luke  Q^Si)- 

"He  steadfastly  set  his  face" — these  words  constitute  an 
epitome  of  his  life.     He  was  mastered  by  a  mighty  purpose, 

21 


THE  WAY  OF  CHRIST 

a  consuming,  dominating,  organizing  purpose.  As  a  boy  of 
twelve,  little  comprehending,  perhaps,  what  was  before  Him, 
He  uttered  the  words,  "Do  you  not  know  that  I  must  be  about 
my  Father's  business?"  In  the  garden  of  Gethsemane,  after 
He  knew  it  all.  He  said,  "My  Father — thy  will  be  done." 

To  seek  to  understand  what  those  three  tumultuous  years 
in  the  life  of  Jesus  have  meant  to  humanity  and  should  mean 
to  us  to-day — this  is  the  purpose  of  our  study. 


22 


CHAPTER  II 

THE  BEGINNINGS 
SUGGESTIONS  FOR  PERSONAL  STUDY 

Biblical  Material. 

1.  John  the  Baptist. 

a.  His  birth  and  silent  years.     Luke  i  :S-25,  57-8o. 

b.  His  ministry.     Mt.  3:1-12,  Mk.  1:1-8,  Luke  3:1-20. 

c.  His   last  message,   Mt.    11:2-11,  and   his   death,   Mt. 

14:1-12. 

2.  The  baptism   of   Jesus.     Mt.   3:13-17,   Mk.   1:9-11,   Luke 

3  :2I-22. 

3.  The  temptation  of  Jesus.  Mt.  4:1-11,  Mk.  1:12-13,  Luke 
4:1-13. 

I.  Preparing  for  Citizenship. 

1.  Characterize  John. 

2.  In  what  way  did  his  silent  years  differ  from  the  silent 
years  of  Jesus?  How  did  his  wilderness  experience  fit  him 
for  announcing  the  Kingdom? 

3.  Suggest  some  reasons  why  John  was  simply  the  great 
herald  of  the   New  Order  and  not  a  citizen  of   it    (cf.  Mt. 

ii:ii). 

4.  Recalling  the  contrast  between  the  silent  years  of  Jesus 
and  John,  enumerate  the  different  elements  which  make  up 
an  ideal  preparation  for  citizenship  in  the  New  Order. 

22, 


THE  WAY  OF  CHRIST 

II.  The  Call  of  the  New  Order. 

1.  Look  for  the  principal  points  in  John's  message.  Just 
what  was  it  that  drew  Jesus  to  John? 

2.  Does  John's  message  meet  the  world  situation  to-day, 
with  regard  to  the  hope  of  a  new  world  order,  the  desire  for 
social  and  political  justice,  the  need  for  Christ-like  leader- 
ship? 

3.  Grapple  with  the  problem  of  what  Jesus'  call  meant  to 
Him.  Is  there  a  sense  in  which  conditions  to-day  constitute 
a  like  call? 

4.  How  are  the  temptations  of  Jesus  typical  of  our  temp- 
tations as  we  face  worthy  life  aims?  Is  the  temptation  to 
self-gratification  real  in  daily  experience  ?  How  does  popu- 
larity constitute  a  temptation?  Think  of  concrete  ways  in 
which  the  temptation  to  compromise  manifests  itself. 


I.  The  Herald  of  the  New  Order. 

John,  than  which  man  a  sadder  or  a  greater 
Not  till  this  day  has  been  of  woman  born : 

John,  like  some  lonely  peak  by  the  Creator 
Fired  with  the  red  glow  of  the  rushing  morn. 

— F.  W.  H.  Myers. 

The  name  John  carries  with  it  a  certain  atmosphere  of 
rugged  sincerity  and  strength,  of  honesty  and  serviceableness. 
No  single  individual  ever  did  more  to  give  this  common  name 
its  honest  fearless  sound  than  did  John,  "the  Baptizer,"  who 
from  his  desert  solitude  stepped  into  the  midst  of  men  with 

24 


THE  BEGINNINGS 

a   challenging    message    which    caught    the    attention    of    all 

Palestine. 

He  was  known  in  those  days  for  his  own  sake,  but  we 
must  always  think  of  him  in  connection  with  Jesus.  And 
perhaps  it  is  by  setting  John  over  against  Jesus  that  we 
shall  come  to  understand  him.  Like  Jesus,  John  had  breathed 
in  the  quiet,  devout  spirit,  the  earnest  expectations  which 
characterized  the  very  finest  type  of  Jewish  home  (Luke 
1:5-25;  57-80).  He  must  have  known  how  his  own  birth 
had  been  associated  with  the  noblest  patriotic  hopes  of  the 
day  (Luke  i:i5ff  and  68ff). 

But  aside  from  this,  the  lives  of  Jesus  and  John  were 
sharply  contrasted.  John's  father  was  a  priest  and  as  a  boy 
he  doubtless  spent  long  hours  studying  the  priestly  lore,  while 
Jesus  during  those  same  years  was  learning  the  builder's 
trade.  John  lived  in  the  "hill  country"  of  Judea  (Luke 
1:39),  where  nature  was  far  more  severe  than  the  friendly 
Galilean  country.  Judean  hills  made  men  independent  and 
fearless,  but  they  did  not  tend  to  draw  "them  close  together. 
At  any  rate,  John  left  the  haunts  of  men  and  went  out  into 
the  desert  "till  the  time  came  for  him  to  appear  publicly  to 
Israel."  (Luke  i  :8o,  Weymouth.)  And  during  those  days 
and  years  when  Jesus  was  leading  the  busy  Hfe  of  a  master 
carpenter  in  Galilee,  John  was  alone  in  the  desert,  feeding 
his  soul  on  the  sterner  elements  of  Old  Testament  prophecy. 
His  school  was  the  solitude,  his  companions  the  wild  beasts, 
his  teacher  the  God  of  the  prophets  of  old. 

When  John  broke  silence  he  quickly  became  the  outstanding 
figure  of  the  day.  Like  the  great  prophets  who  had  gone 
before  him  he  was  extremely  sensational.  He  could  afford 
to  be  sensational  because  he  had  something  to  say.    Prophecy 

25 


THE  WAY  OF  CHRIST 

was  a  mission,  not  an  occupation,  with  John.  Just  as  Isaiah 
caught  the  ear  of  the  Judean  grape  growers  by  appearing  as 
a  ballad  singer  with  the  song  of  his  friend's  vineyard 
(Isaiah  5),  just  as  Amos  must  have  drawn  rounds  of  applause 
by  condemning  Israel's  unpopular  neighbors  (Amos  i,  2),  so 
John  got  a  hearing  by  appearing  in  the  uncouth  garb  of  the 
wilderness  (Mk.  1:6),  strangely  like  the  dress  of  the  great 
Elijah  (II  Kings  i  :8),  whose  return,  many  believed,  was  to 
usher  in  the  Kingdom. 

Instantly  there  was  tremendous  excitement  in  the  land.  I 
Crowds  flocked  to  hear  him  (Mark  1:5).  And  the  message 
he  had  to  give  was  no  less  sensational  than  his  appearance. 
It  was  no  pleasant  word,  for  as  he  saw  these  multitudes 
pouring  out  from  Jerusalem  and  all  Judea  he  did  not  say, 
"I'm  glad  to  see  so  many  of  you  here  to-day."  Rather,  he 
pointed  out  their  sins.  "O  vipers'  brood,  who  has  warned 
you  to  flee  from  the  coming  wrath?"  (Luke  3:8,  Weymouth) 
were  the  words  he  used  to  describe  the  Pharisees.  People 
must  have  winced  under  the  lash  of  his  tongue,  but  they 
stayed  to  hear  and  be  baptized,  common  folk,  proud  Phari- 
sees, aristocratic  Sadducees,  for  there  was  a  compelling  au- 
thority about  this  prophet  and  he  had  something  to  say  that 
thrilled  every  heart. 

II.  The  Message  of  John. 

The  remarkable  outpouring  of  people  to  hear  this  rude 
man  of  the  desert  was  due  in  the  first  place  to  his  announce- 
ment that  the  Kingdom  of  God  was  at  hand.  It  was  a  call 
to  hope.  That  was  a  welcome  word  to  every  Jew.  It  meant 
that  Jehovah  was  coming  to  judge  the  nations  and  to  deliver 
his  people ;  that  the  hated  Roman  rule  was  to  be  cast  ofi"  and 

26 


THE  BEGINNINGS 

Israel  restored.  There  were  many  who  longed  for  "the 
day,"  there  were  some  who  may  have  timidly  believed  it  was 
close  at  hand,  but  here  was  a  ringing  authoritative  voice 
announcing  its  imminence. 

Yet  John's  message  was  more  than  a  call  to  hope,  it  was  a 
call  to  conscience.  With  stinging  words  he  cut  into  their 
national  complacency  and  racial  exclusiveness.  They  were 
given  no  opportunity  to  gloat  over  the  reversal  of  things 
which  was  to  be— Jew  exalted,  Roman  subjected— for  like  a 
pistol-shot  rang  out  John's  word,  repent!  "Repent,"  said 
John,  "in  view  of  the  coming  Kingdom!  Get  ready!  For 
judgment  will  not  be  upon  Gentiles  alone,  but  upon  Israel." 
This  call  to  conscience  was  disconcerting,  but  underneath  the 
layers  of  formalism  which  the  Pharisees  had  superimposed, 
the  moral  genius  of  the  Hebrews  still  lived.  They  heard 
again  the  great  formula  of  the  prophets,  Religion  means 
Righteousness.     How    it    challenged    them    Luke    graphically 

tells  us. 

(In  the  Weymouth  translation)  :— Accordingly  John  used 
to  say  to  the  crowds  who  came  out  to  be  baptized  by  him,  "O 
vipers'  brood,  who  has  warned  you  to  flee  from  the  coming 
wrath?  Live  lives  which  shall  prove  your  change  of  heart; 
and  do  not  begin  to  say  to  yourselves,  'We  have  Abraham 
as  our  forefather,'  for  I  tell  you  that  God  can  raise  up 
descendants  for  Abraham  from  these  stones.  And  even  now 
the  ax  is  lying  at  the  root  of  the  trees,  so  that  every  tree 
which  fails  to  yield  good  fruit  will  quickly  be  hewn  down 
and  thrown  into  the  fire."  The  crowds  repeatedly  asked  him, 
"What  then  are  we  to  do?" 

"Let  the  man  who  has  two  coats,"  he  answered,  "give  one  to 

27 


THE  WAY  OF  CHRIST 

the  man  who  has  none;  and  let  the  man  who  has  food  share 
it  with  others." 

There  came  also  a  party  of  tax-gatherers  to  be  baptized, 
and  they  asked  him,  "Rabbi,  what  are  we  to  do?'" 

"Do  not  exact  more  than  the  legal  amount,"  he  replied. 

The  soldiers  also  once  and  again  inquired  of  him,  "And  we, 
what  are  we  to  do?" 

His  answer  was,  "Neither  intimidate  any  one  nor  lay  false 
charges;  and  be  content  with  your  pay"  (Luke  3:7-14,  Wey- 
mouth ) . 

The  herald's  task  was  not  complete.  It  was  inevitable  that 
his  message  of  hope  and  righteousness  should  arouse  the 
latent  Messianic  expectations  of  the  people.  There  were 
questionings  on  all  sides.  "Is  this  Messiah?"  (Luke  3:15.) 
Finally  the  queries  reached  the  ears  of  John.  Picture  his 
dismay!  In  shocked  surprise  he  shrinks  from  the  idea. 
"Not  I,  not  I,  but  mightier  than  I  is  the  coming  one."  All  the 
stern  elements  of  prophecy  which  the  lad  John  had  learned 
at  his  priestly  father's  feet  and  had  found  congenial  in  his 
desert  solitude  burst  into  flame  as  he  sought  to  picture  the 
coming  Messiah.  Read  Luke  3:16,  17.  As  we  try  to  fit  this 
picture  to  the  life  of  Jesus,  we  read  a  deeper  meaning  into 
the  words  of  John's  Gospel,  "And  I  knew  him  not"  (John 
1:31).  Truly  John  did  not  understand  the  One  who  was  to 
come,  but  in  his  own  self-abnegation  he  sent  forth  the  last 
great  note  of  his  herald's  message,  a  call  for  leadership. 

III.  An  Estimate  of  John. 

The  John  of  the  Judean  hills  was  not  adequate  for  the  con- 
structive task  of  building  a  new  World  Order.  He  saw  the 
flaws  in  the  Old  Order, — the  narrow  complacency,  the  super- 

28 


THE  BEGINNINGS 

ficial  religiosity,  the  want  of  common  justice  and  mercy,  and 
he  condemned  it  fearlessly  and  with  tremendous  effectiveness. 
And  when  his  task  was  done,  with  a  humility  as  rare  as  it 
was  fine,  he  voiced  the  need  of  all  humanity  for  a  Leader, 
and  stepped  aside.  Like  Amos,  who  came  from  the  same 
Judean  hills,  he  gave  his  message  and  retired  into  the  shad- 
ows.    He  had  finished  his  task. 

The  greatness  of  John  cannot  be  a  matter  of  doubt  to  him 
for  whom  the  words  of  Jesus  are  authoritative.  In  the  midst 
of  Jesus'  ministry,  John  sends  from  his  prison  cell  to  know 
if  Jesus  is  really  the  Coming  One  (Mt.  ii  :2,  3).  The  mission 
and  message  of  Jesus  seem  of  such  a  different  nature  than  he 
had  expected.  Jesus  sends  back  an  answer  well  calculated  to 
relieve  his  perplexity,  and  then,  turning  to  the  crowd.  He 
seems  to  defend  John  against  any  charge  of  weakness  or 
indecision,  in  striking  words  of  eulogy: 

(In  the  Weymouth  translation)  : — When  the  messengers 
had  taken  their  leave,  Jesus  proceeded  to  say  to  the  multitude 
concerning  John, 

"What  did  you  go  out  into  the  desert  to  gaze  at?  A  reed 
waving  in  the  wind?  But  what  did  you  go  out  to  see?  A 
man  luxuriously  dressed?  Those  who  wear  luxurious  clothes 
are  to  be  found  in  king's  palaces.  But  why  did  you  go  out? 
To  see  a  prophet?  Yes,  I  tell  you,  and  far  more  than  a 
prophet.     This  is  he  of  whom  it  is  written, 

"'SEE,  I  AM  SENDING  MY  MESSENGER  BEFORE 
THY  FACE,  AND  HE  WILL  MAKE  THY  ROAD  READY 
BEFORE  THEE'  (Mai.  3:1). 

"I  solemnly  tell  you  that  among  all  of  woman  born  no 
greater  has  ever  been  raised  up  than  John  the  Baptist;  yet 

29 


THE  WAY  OF  CHRIST 

one  who  is  of  lower   rank  in  the  Kingdom  of  the   Heavens 
is  greater  than  he  (Mt.  11:7-11,  Weymouth)." 

John's  tragic  end  came  as  the  resuU  of  his  fearless  denun- 
ciation of  the  sins  of  Herod  (Mt.  14:3-12),  and  the  words 
which  follow  in  Matthew's  gospel  (14:13)  add  a  beautiful 
and  touching  note  in  their  portrayal  of  Jesus'  sincere  grief 
at  the  death  of  his  friend.  It  was  at  the  tidings  of  his  death 
that  Jesus  turned  from  the  multitude  and  with  the  little  group 
of  the  inner  circle  sought  solitude.  Could  they  have  done 
otherwise  than  quietly  talk  together  of  this  herald  of  the 
New  Order,  and  his  life  of  service? 

IV.  John  and  Jesus. 

We  last  saw  Jesus  in  Galilean  Nazareth,  engaged  in  the 
absorbing  tasks  of  a  builder,  moving  acceptably  among  his 
neighbors,  responding  to  the  busy  life  of  that  small  city, 
yet  not  unaware  of  the  greater  world  of  men  and  its  com- 
plex problems.  We  thought  of  his  inner  life  during  those 
silent  years  and  wondered  if  that  glorious  boyhood  purpose 
was  ever  crushed  by  the  weight  of  common  tasks  and  by 
the  dullness  of  routine.  Did  He  ever  ask,  When  will  my 
time    come  ? 

And  now  we  have  the  answer.  At  the  age  of  thirty, 
in  the  full  consciousness  of  mature  powers,  having  real- 
ized the  promise  of  those  early  days  in  physical,  intellec- 
tual,   social    and    spiritual    development,    Jesus    of    Nazareth 

" placed  the  tools  in  order,  and  shut  to 

And  barred  for  the  last  time  the  humble  door." 

His   time   had    come. 

30 


THE  BEGINNINGS 

No  single  event  in  his  life  is  more  fascinating  than  this 
call  to  a  larger  service.  The  call  came  to  Him  in  a  simple 
and  natural  way  and  yet  irresistibly.  John's  was  pre- 
cisely the  type  of  message  to  which  the  boy  Jesus  of  the 
temple,  now  grown  to  manhood,  must  needs  respond.  John's 
call  to  hope,  "The  Kingdom  is  close  at  hand,"  was  the 
very  note  which  had  set  Jesus'  face  steadfastly  toward  his 
Father's  business  back  there  in  the  temple.  The  hope  of  a 
New  Order  would  challenge  Jesus  from  every  viewpoint. 

Think  how  the  vision  of  world  democracy,  the  thirst  for  a 
lasting  and  righteous  peace,  the  hunger  for  social  justice, 
is  m.oving  all  men  of  good  will  to-day!  Was  it  something 
as  deep  and  powerful  which  moved  Jesus  when  John's 
urgent  call  for  the  coming  of  the  New  Order  sounded  out? 
But  even  more  would  he  respond  to  John's  call  to  conscience. 
A  moral  reform  was  stirring  in  little  Palestine,  and  even  in 
Galilee  its  influence  was  distinctly  felt.  Galileans  were  flock- 
ing to  the  Jordan,  undoubtedly  Jesus'  own  neighbors  among 
them.  Pharisees  had  talked  about  a  New  Order  to  come. 
What  could  one  do  about  it?  Nothing,  except  to  keep  the 
law  and  the  traditions.  But  John  had  a  different  answer  to 
that  query.  What  can  one  do  ?  Get  ready  for  the  New  Order. 
And  that  means  clean  hands  and  pure  hearts.  It  was  in 
confession  of  their  sins  and  in  genuine  desire  to  be  morally 
fit  that  so  many  Jews  submitted  to  "the  Baptizer's"  simple 
rite.  Think  you  that  Jesus  could  stay  in  Nazareth  when 
a   movement   like   this   was   on    foot? 

But  more  compelling  than  the  urgent,  authoritative  note 
of  hope  and  the  clear  challenge  to  the  conscience,  was  that 
other  thrilling  note  in  John's  message,  the  call  for  leadership. 
"Are  you   Messiah?"   they   asked  of   John.     "Not   I,   not    I," 

31 


THE  WAY  OF  CHRIST 

he  answered,  "but  One  mightier  than  I  is  coming,  whose  very 
sandal  strap  I  am  not  worthy  to  unfasten."  May  not  Jesus 
have  felt  already  stirring  within  Himself  the  consciousness 
that  his  Fathers  business  led  in  the  direction  of  the  fulfil- 
ment of  John's  lofty  anticipations?  Was  He  to  be  the 
great  leader  of  this  New  Order? 

V.  The  Father's  Business. 

Thus  it  came  about  that  Jesus  stood  one  day  with  the  others 
on  the  banks  of  the  Jordan.  Mark  tells  what  happened  in 
language  so  severely  simple  and  concise  that  it  becomes  the 
most  impressive  of  the  gospel  accounts.  It  is  as  though  the 
writer  were  saying,  "This  is  what  took  place.  The  event 
itself  is  so  tremendous  that  it  needs  no  adornment  or  expan- 
sion in  the  telling." 

(In  the  Weymouth  translation)  : — At  that  time  Jesus  came 
from  Nazareth  in  Galilee  and  was  baptized  by  John  in  the 
Jordan;  and  immediately  on  his  coming  up  out  of  the  water 
He  saw  an  opening  in  the  sky,  and  the  Spirit  like  a  dove 
coming  down  to  Him;  and  a  voice  came  from  the  sky, 
saying, 

"Thou  art  My  Son  dearly  loved :  in  Thee  is  My  delight" 
(Ps.  2:7;  Isa.  42:1).     (Mark  1:9,  10,  11,  Weymouth.) 

Think  how  this  incident  found  its  way  into  the  gospel 
record.  Perhaps  Jesus  Himself  first  revealed  its  inner  mean- 
ing. Who  else  could  have  known?  Months  afterward,  when 
He  had  turned  from  the  public  ministry  in  Galilee  and  was 
giving  all  his  time  and  thought  to  that  little  group  of  follow- 
ers. He  unfolded  to  them  in  beautiful  symbolism  the  signifi- 
cance of   that   day. 

32 


THE  BEGINNINGS 

What  did  it  mean  for  Jesus?  Shorn  of  the  imagery  so 
difficult  for  the  western  mind,  it  stands  forth  clearly  as 
the  beginning  of  Jesus'  life  work.  That  day  Sonship  came 
to  its  vocation.  As  the  boy  Jesus  had  known  with  unmis- 
takable clearness  that  his  life  was  to  be  spent  at  his  Father's 
business,  so  Jesus  in  the  full  maturity  of  his  perfect  man- 
hood, knew  what  the  Father's  business  was  to  be  and  his  own 
place  therein.  The  Father's  business  which  should  claim  his 
life  was  the  bringing  in  of  that  New  Order  which  John  had 
heralded.  From  the  moment  of  the  baptism  Jesus'  life  and 
teaching  center  about  the  coming  of  the  Kingdom  of  God, 
the  new  World  Order  which  was  the  dominant  hope  of  all 
men  of  good  will. 

How  close  home  it  brings  Him  to  our  own  day!  God's 
business  on  this  earth  has  always  been  the  establishment  of 
a  new  and  better  order  of  life,  and  Jesus,  nineteen  centuries 
ago,  gave  Himself  to  that  task.  This  humble  peasant  min- 
gled with  the  throng  and  went  down  into  the  muddy  waters 
of  the  Jordan  in  unreserved  dedication  to  this  tremendous 
hope. 

It  was  revealed  to  Jesus  on  that  day  not  only  what  his 
Father's  business  was  to  be  but  his  own  place  therein.  His 
was  to  be  the  place  of  supreme  leadership.  John's  call  for 
a  leader  had  not  been  in  vain.  Jesus  of  Nazareth  was  the 
answer. 

The  words  in  which  the  heavenly  message  has  come  down 
to  us  are  significant.  "Thou  art  my  son  dearly  loved:  in 
thee  is  my  delight"  (Mark  i  :ii,  Weymouth).  They  come  from 
two  Old  Testament  passages,  both  expressive  of  the  age-long 
hope  of  the  Hebrews,  and  yet  so  strangely  different  that  our 


THE  WAY  OF  CHRIST 

thought  is  challenged  by  the  contrast.  The  first  phrase, 
"Thou  art  my  son,"  is  a  quotation  from  the  second  Psalm. 
The  picture  is  that  of   Israel's  ideal  king. 

Jehovah  said  unto  me.  Thou  art  my  son ; 
This  day  have  I  begotten  thee. 

Ask  of  me,  and  I  will  give  thee  the  nations  for  thine 
inheritance. 

And  the  uttermost  parts  of  the  earth  for  thy  possession. 

Thou  shalt  break  them  with  a  rod  of  iron; 

Thou  shalt  dash  them  in  pieces  like  a  potter's  vessel. 

(Psalm  2:7-9.) 

Compare  John's  striking  picture  of  the  "mighty"  one  (Luke 
3:9,  16,  17).  Power,  majesty,  dominion,  almost  ruthless  in 
its  severity — these  are  the  characteristics  of  both  pictures. 
Was  Jesus  such  a  leader?  Now  turn  to  the  other  phrase, 
"in  thee  is  my  delight."  Apparently  this  phrase  comes  from 
the    forty-second   chapter   of    Isaiah. 

Behold,  my  servant,  whom  I  uphold;  my  chosen,  in  whom 
my  soul  delighteth  :  I  have  put  my  spirit  upon  him ;  he  will 
bring  forth  justice  to  the  nations.  He  will  not  cry,  nor  lift 
up  his  voice,  nor  cause  it  to  be  heard  in  the  street.  A  bruised 
reed  will  he  not  break,  and  a  dimly  burning  wick  will  he 
not  quench:  he  will  bring  forth  justice  in  truth.  He  will 
not  fail  nor  be  discouraged,  till  he  have  set  justice  in  the 
earth;  and  the  isles  shall  wait  for  his  law.     (Isaiah  42:1-4.) 

Does  this  fit  more  accurately  the  life  of  Jesus?  What  a 
paradox  is  here :  mastery,  dominion,  power,  on  the  one  hand ; 
service,  patience,  suffering,  on  the  other.  May  we  not  seek 
to  understand  as  we  see  his  life  and  teaching  unfolding,  how 

34 


THE  BEGINNINGS 

Jesus  solved  this  paradox  and  revealed  the  way  to  mastery 
through  service,  and  to  Lordship  through  suffering? 

At  least  three  things  are  clear  about  Jesus'  baptismal  ex- 
perience. First,  He  dedicated  Himself  unreservedly  to  the 
New  Order  and  its  coming  as  the  business  of  his  life.  Sec- 
ond, in  that  act  of  dedication  He  received  a  call  to  the 
supreme  place  of  leadership  in  the  New  Order.  Third,  some- 
thing of  the  nature  of  that  leadership  was  made  clear  to 
Him.  It  was  to  gain  its  potency  through  service  to  the  point 
of  suffering,  that  justice  and  truth  might  be  the  possessions 
of  all  nations. 

VI.  The  Temptation  of  Jesus. 

The  temptation  is  but  the  reverse  side  of  the  supreme 
experience  we  have  just  been  studying.  Read  the  vivid 
accounts  in  Luke  and  Matthew  (4:1-13;  4:1-11).  Once  again 
we  have  Jesus'  own  account  to  his  disciples,  for  no  one 
else  could  have  told  it.  The  picture  language  conveys  like 
a  flash  to  the  brain  of  the  Oriental  meanings  that  we  gain 
only  through  more  prosaic  channels,  and  here  Jesus  is  evi- 
dently using  graphic  symbols  to  describe  his  temptation  ex- 
perience. 

Mark  tells  us  that  it  was  the  "Spirit"  that  impelled  Him 
to  go  out  into  the  desert  (Mark  i  :i2).  Fired  with  an  intense 
desire  for  the  coming  of  the  New  Order,  He  sought  the 
solitude  that  He  might  commune  with  that  Father  whose 
business  now  engaged  his  whole  thought. 

How  should  the  New  Order  be  inaugurated?  How  might 
He  win  men  to  it  and  still  preserve  its  fair  and  just  ideals? 
The  temptations  came  in  connection  with  real  life  prob- 
lems.    They  are  the  temptations  that  assail  all  manhood  and 

35 


THE  WAY  OF  CHRIST 

womanhood  as  it  faces  worthy  Hfe  tasks,  and  they  consti- 
tute one  of  the  strongest  bonds  that  bind  Jesus  to  his  fellows. 

In  reality  the  temptation  is  but  one,  though  it  shows  three 
beads.  It  is  a  temptation  to  lack  of  faith  in  God  and  his 
way.  Jesus,  through  the  very  passion  of  his  longing  for 
the  New  Order,  felt  the  force  of  every  short  cut  or  apparent 
substitute  for  God's  own  way  of  bringing  it  in.  But  in 
each  instance  He  resolutely  put  the  tempting  program  aside, 
committing  Himself  anew  to  the  will  of  God. 

In  the  first  phase  of  the  temptation  He  reaffirmed  his 
allegiance  to  the  fundamental  law  that  self -gratification  has 
no  place  in  the  New  Order.  It  may  cause  full  stomachs 
for  the  few  but'it  means  empty  souls  for  the  many  (Mt. 
4:4).  See  with  what  insistence  Jesus  proclaimed  that  law 
of  the  New  Order  throughout  his  teaching  (Mt.  16:24;  Luke 
I2:i6ff).  Is  that  a  necessary  law  in  the  New  Order  that  men 
dream  of  to-day? 

The  next  phase  (Mt.  4:5ff)  was  the  temptation  to  gain 
a  following  by  spectacular  means,  by  catering  to  the  ideas 
of  the  time.  How  passionately  Jesus  yearned  that  men  in 
large  numbers  might  enlist  in  the  New  Order!  (Mt.  23:37.) 
Why  not  gain  a  quick  popularity?  But  He  saw  the  differ- 
ence between  an  outward  following  and  a  spiritual  allegiance, 
and  chose  the  harder,  longer  path.  The  New  Order  must  not 
be  based  upon  insecure   foundations. 

And  finally  (Mt.  4:8ff)  He  set  his  face  against  all  com- 
promise with  evil,  knowing  that  not  only  does  the  means 
fail  to  justify  the  end,  but  that  He  who  adopts  wrong  means 
never  reaches  the  right  end.  Once  again  He  declared  his 
unswerving  devotion  to  the  cause  of  God  in  the  world. 

"So  the  devil,  having  fully  tried  every  kind  of  temptation 

36 


THE  BEGINNINGS 

on  Him,  left  Him  for  a  time"  (Luke  4:12,  Weymouth). 
Luke  in  his  phrase  "for  a  time"  suggests  that  these  tempta- 
tions recurred.  Jesus  had  won  the  first  victory  for  the  New 
Order,  and  from  this  time  forth  He  marked  out  its  course 
in  perfect  alignment  with   the   Father's   will. 

VII.  The  Beginnings  of  the  New  Order. 

For  nineteen  centuries  these  events,  the  preaching  of  John, 
the  call  and  temptation  of  Jesus,  have  meant  to  Christian 
people  no  less  than  the  beginnings  of  a  new  and  better  order 
of  life  upon  this  earth.  John  with  his  challenge  to  hope,  to 
conscience  and  to  leadership,  Jesus  with  his  dedication  to 
that  hope,  his  acceptance  of  that  leadership,  and  his  vic- 
torious allegiance  to  the  divine  purpose  and  plan — these  have 
marked  out  the  lines  along  which  all  progress  toward  the 
better  order  has  moved. 

To-day  in  sorrow  and  pain,  hatred  and  bitterness,  serv- 
ice and  sacrifice,  the  hope  of  the  New  Order  is  rising  like 
an  incoming  tide  in  the  hearts  of  men. 


37 


CHAPTER  III 
THE  STATESMANSHIP  OF  JESUS 

SUGGESTIONS  FOR  PERSONAL  STUDY 

I.  Jesus'  Wisdom  in  Beginning  the  New  Order. 

1.  Review  Chapter  II  and  see  how  Jesus  began  his  work 
by  linking  it  up  with  a  great  popular  movement.  Do  you 
think  Jesus  could  approve  of  everything  in  this  popular  move- 
ment?    What  things   could   He   approve  of? 

2.  Compare  John's  picture  of  the  coming  Messiah  and 
Jesus'  own  idea  of  his  mission,  as  set  forth  in  the  preceding 
chapter.  How  did  these  ideas  differ?  Now  read  Mk.  1:14, 
15.  What  agreements  between  John  and  Jesus  do  you  find 
here?     Are  there  any  differences? 

3.  Read  John  4:1-3.  What  do  these  verses  indicate  con- 
cerning Jesus'  relations  with  John? 

4.  From  the  foregoing  questions,  summarize  Jesus'  atti- 
tude toward  others  and  their  ideas.  Was  it  constructive  or 
destructive?  Was  He  looking  for  points  of  agreement  or 
points  of  difference? 

5.  Test  your  own  attitude  toward  others.  Do  you  make 
more  of  points  of  agreement  or  points  of  difference?  How 
far  is  it  possible  to  ignore  differences? 

II.  How  to  Deal  with  Apparent  Failure. 

I.  Read  John  2:13-22;  2:23,  24;  4:1,  2.  Note  the  ele- 
ments of  failure  in  these  references— hostility  from  religious 


THE  STATESMANSHIP  OF  JESUS 

leaders,  superficial  acceptance  by  many,  danger  of  friction 
with  John.  Read  Mt.  23  -.37  as  a  summarizing  statement  of 
Jesus'  experiences  in  Jerusalem. 

2.  These  disheartening  experiences  came  to  Jesus  at  the 
very  beginning  of  his  ministry.  How  did  He  adjust  his 
work  to  them?  He  could  "give  up"  or  "go  on  blindly" 
or  "look  for  an  open  door."  Which  did  He  do?  Read 
the  simple  statement  in  John  4 13.  Was  He  giving  up  all 
hope  of  Jerusalem  or  simply  waiting  for  a  better  opportu- 
nity and  seeking  a  more  receptive  field? 

3.  What  hints  for  the  individual  who  faces  apparent 
failure  are  to  be  found  here?  Which  is  the  part  of  wis- 
dom, "to  give  up"  or  "go  on  blindly"  or  "to  look  for  an 
open  door"? 

III.  How  to  Deal  with  Opposition  and  with  Popularity. 

When  Jesus  left  Judea  and  began  his  Galilean  ministry 
He  faced  both  popularity  and  opposition.  Read  Mk.  i  128, 
37,  38,  45  for  evidences  of  the  great  popularity  He  aroused 
in  Galilee.  Glance  over  Mk.  2-3  :6  for  evidences  of  decided 
opposition. 

1.  Read  Mk.  3:13-19.  Jesus  accepted  the  popularity  as 
long  as  He  could  help  the  crowds  but  He  did  not  value  it 
too  highly,  and  chose  a  smaller  group  to  whom  He  could 
impart  his  real  message. 

2.  Read  Mk.  4:10-12.  See  how  He  sifted  the  crowd  by 
means  of  parables  in  order  to  attract  only  those  who  were 
genuinely  interested.  Moreover,  the  parables  did  nothing  to 
increase  the  hostility  of  the  religious  leaders. 

3.  How  much  is  popularity  worth?  Is  it  an  end  in  itself 
or  a  by-product?     How  is  genuine  popularity  acquired?     Is 

39 


THE  WAY  OF  CHRIST 

it  possible  to  gain  popularity  by  direct  effort?  What  are 
the  tests  of  popularity?  Is  antagonism  unavoidable?  What 
would  the  experience  of  Jesus  indicate?  How  far  should 
one  go  in  avoiding  hostility? 

IV.  The  Statesmanship  of  Sacrifice. 

Read   Mk.   8:31-38,   esp.   vs.   35;   John   12:   23,   24. 

What  is  the  final  test  of  devotion  to  a  cause?  What  is  the 
convincing  power  of  willingness  to  die  for  a  cause?  What 
are  the  values  worth  dying  for?  How  many  are  included 
in  the  New  Order  of  Christ?  How  is  it  possible  to  express 
one's  willingness  to  die  for  Christ's  Kingdom  where  the 
demand  is  to  live  a  commonplace,  undramatic  life?  What 
does  it  mean  to  lose  one's  life  in  a  cause? 


The  New  Order  outlined  by  Jesus  needs  not  only  citizens 
but  statesmen,  and  as  Jesus  Himself  is  the  ideal  citizen  of 
the  New  Order,  so  also  He  embodies  those  qualities  of  states- 
manship which  must  characterize  Christian  leadership  to-day. 

We  rarely  think  or  speak  of  Jesus  as  a  statesman.  We 
meditate  upon  his  perfection  of  character  more  than  upon 
his  practical  handling  of  the  actual  problems  of  life.  And 
yet  the  latter  is  a  part  of  the  former.  We  think  of  his 
goodness  more  than  of  his  wisdom.  Yet  his  keen  insight 
into  the  conditions  of  his  own  day  and  the  marvelous  way 
in  which  He  gave  his  message  so  that  men  could  never 
forget  it,  are  worthy  of  the  same  careful  study  which  we 
give  to  his  deeply  spiritual  messages. 

Jesus    was    a    statesman    of    the    highest    type.      Without 

40 


THE  STATESMANSHIP  OF  JESUS 

formal  education  in  either  statecraft  or  religion  He  launched 
a  movement  destined  to  affect  all  subsequent  history.  He 
was  bitterly  opposed  by  both  church  and  state.  The  power- 
ful religious  leaders  of  his  own  people,  supreme  in  all 
religious  matters  and  all  but  supreme  in  civil  affairs,  tried 
their  best  to  crush  this  Galilean.  They  set  in  motion  all 
the  political  and  ecclesiastical  machinery  at  their  command. 
They  exerted  every  energy  to  make  Palestine  forget  about 
Jesus  and  his  New  Order.  To  ensure  this  oblivion  for  Him, 
they  put  Him  to  death.  But  He  was  not  passive  during 
the  intrigues  of  the  Pharisees.  He  held  the  situation  in 
his  own  hand,  and  went  to  Jerusalem  with  a  clear-eyed 
knowledge  of  the  probable  fate  awaiting  Him  there.  He 
went  to  establish  the  New  Order  by  that  act  of  self-sacrifice 
at  the  nation's  heart.  His  death  was  at  once  the  inaugura- 
tion of  the  New  Order  and  the  doom  of  every  old  order 
which  leaves  Him  out  of  account. 

It  is  this  statesmanship  of  Jesus  which  v/e  need  to  study. 

I.  A  Statesmanlike  Beginning. 

It  is  significant  that  Jesus  waited  until  He  was  "about 
thirty  years  of  age"  before  He  began  any  public  work. 
Years  before  that  time  He  must  have  burned  with  desire 
to  serve  his  people  and  to  find  his  own  task  in  the  world. 
But  He  waited  on  at  Nazareth  until  He  was  thirty  years 
old,  not,  of  course,  because  there  was  any  magic  in  that 
particular   number   of   years,   but  because  the  time   was  not 

ripe. 

How  quickly  He  responded  when  the  word  came  to  Galilee 
of  the  remarkable  personality  and  messages  of  John  the 
Baptist!     All   Palestine  was   aroused  by   the  sensational   an- 

41 


THE  WAY  OF  CHRIST 

nouncement  that  the  Kingdom  was  at  hand  and  the  equally 
sensational  requirement  of  repentance  in  view  of  its  near- 
ness. Jesus  immediately  left  the  carpenter's  bench  and 
made  his  way  to  the  Jordan  with  the  multitudes.  He  saw 
in  John's  straightforward  preaching  and  in  the  eager  way 
in  which  the  people  of  all  classes  responded  to  it  exactly 
the  conditions  which  made  possible  a  wider  and  more  last- 
ing movement  than  even  John  contemplated.  We  have 
thought,  in  an  earlier  chapter,  of  the  baptism  and  tempta- 
tion of  Jesus  as  revealing  his  inner  experiences,  but  let  us 
look  at  them  now  from  the  viewpoint  of  his  statesmanship. 
The  moral  appeal  ■  of  John  and  the  manner  in  which  He 
sharpened  the  hopes  of  the  people  and  aroused  in  them 
an  eager  expectancy  of  better  things  seemed  to  challenge 
Jesus  to  meet  that  widespread  sense  of  hope  and  of  need. 
He  did  not  hesitate  for  a  moment  to  make  use  of  a  tre- 
mendous popular  movement  which  was  sweeping  the  coun- 
try. In  fact,  He  seems  to  have  been  waiting  for  just  such 
a  movement  before  •  He   launched  his  own   mission. 

Then  think  how  Jesus  linked  his  work  with  John's  mes- 
sage. We  do  not  read  far  before  discovering  that  there 
were  wide  differences  between  John's  idea  of  the  New  Order 
and  that  held  by  Jesus.  The  principal  element  in  the  New 
Order  as  John  conceived  it  was  to  be  a  thorough-going 
judgment  (Mt.  3:10)  and  the  Christ  was  to  be  a  mighty 
Judge  (Mt.  3:11,  12),  but  Jesus  stressed  service  and  mercy 
more  than   judgment. 

Had  Jesus  been  less  of  a  statesman  than  He  was,  He 
might  have  felt  called  upon  to  correct  these  ideas  and  set 
John  right  at  the  beginning.  Instead,  He  selected  those 
notes  in  John's  message  which  He  could  thoroughly  approve 

42 


THE  STATESMANSHIP  OF  JESUS 

and  which  had  already  won  the  attention  of  the  multitudes., 
and  began  his  own  work  by  emphasizing  them  (Mk.  1:15). 
He  began  by  discovering  the  large  points  of  agreement  be- 
tween Himself  and  John  and  for  the  time  ignored  the  points 
of  difference.  The  master  builder  of  Nazareth  was  con- 
structive, and   not  destructive. 

II.  Facing  Apparent  Failure. 

It  was  natural  that  Jesus  should  begin  his  work  in  Judea. 
Jerusalem  v/as  the  heart  of  the  Jewish  state  and  any  re- 
former seeking  to  influence  the  nation  would  naturally  begin 
there.  It  was  not,  then,  a  mark  of  unusual  statesmanship 
that  Jesus  began  his  work  at  the  nation's  capital.  His  wis- 
dom is  revealed  in  the  way  in  which  He  adjusted  his 
further  movements  to  the  reception  He  received  in  Judea. 
For  the  early  Judean  ministry  must  have  been  judged  by 
many  to  be  a  disappointing  failure. 

We  may  well  suppose  that  Jesus  approached  the  idealized 
religious  capital  of  Judaism  with  high  hopes.  It  stood  for 
all  the  best  in  the  nation's  glorious  history.  In  his  own 
experience  it  symbolized  the  great  spiritual  awakening  of  his 
boyhood  days.  But  He  found  the  very  temple  courts  where 
as  a  boy  of  twelve  He  had  sat  listening  to  the  scholars 
transformed  into  a  place  of  barter  and  legalized  graft. 
And  more  than  that,  when  He  drove  out  the  traders  by 
the  force  of  his  righteous  wrath,  aided  we  may  suppose 
by  the  sympathy  of  the  people  who  were  being  fleeced  and 
the  guilty  consciences  of  the  greedy  commercialists,  He 
found  Himself  confronted  by  the  religious  leaders  who 
should  have  been  the  first  to  come  to  his  support.  Their 
attitude  was  cold,  critical,  hostile.     The  entire  incident  must 

43 


THE  WAY  OF  CHRIST 

have  been  a  disheartening  experience  for  Jesus  (John  2:13- 
22). 

In  addition,  John  tells  us  that  the  people  who  believed 
on  Jesus  were  moved  by  superficial  motives  (2:23).  And 
finally,  as  a  last  straw  there  is  a  hint  that  there  was  a 
danger  of  strained  relations  with  John  because  of  the  popu- 
larity of  Jesus,  superficial  though  it  was  (John  4:1,  2).  It 
is  hard  to  imagine  a  more  disheartening  set  of  circumstances 
— opposed  by  the  religious  leaders,  misunderstood  by  those 
who  accepted  Him  and  with  a  rivalry  threatening  to  mar 
the  very  friendship  which  had  made  possible  the  beginnings 
of  his  work! 

The  gospels  do  not  tell  us  of  Jesus'  heartache  over  Judea 
until  the  last  days  of  his  ministry,  when  in  one  passionate 
lament  He  sums  up  his  anguish  of  heart,  "O  Jerusalem, 
Jerusalem !  thou  who  murderest  the  prophets  and  stonest 
those  who  have  been  sent  to  thee!  how  often  have  I  desired 
to  gather  thy  children  to  me,  just  as  a  hen  gathers  her 
chickens  under  her  wings,  and  you  would  not  come!"  (]\It. 
23  •-Z7-) 

But  if  Jesus  was  disappointed  at  the  reception  accorded 
Him  in  Jerusalem  He  did  not  abandon  his  work  on  that 
account.  The  real  quality  of  his  statesmanship  stands  re- 
vealed in  the  manner  in  which  He  met  that  rebuff.  "He 
left  Judea  and  departed  again  into  Galilee"  (John  4:1-3). 
There  were  other  ways  of  gaining  the  ears  of  Palestine 
than  by  direct  assault  upon  the  nation's  center. 

Galilee,  with  its  more  liberal  spirit,  offered  just  the  oppor- 
tunity Jesus  wanted.  The  very  physical  features  of  the 
country,  its  open,  fertile  fields  and  rolling  highlands,  the 
great  international  highways  which  passed  through  it,  meant 

44 


THE  STATESMANSHIP  OF  JESUS 

a  more  open-minded  receptive  people.  The  influence  of  the 
Pharisees  was  not  so  dominant  in  Gahlee  and  something  of 
the  rigidity  of  Judean  legaHsm  and  ceremonial  was  lack- 
ing there.  And  so,  having  challenged  Judea  in  such  a  way 
as  to  attract  the  attention  if  not  the  acceptance  of  the  capital, 
Jesus  turned  with  statesmanlike  acumen  to  the  north. 

III.  Popularity  and  Opposition. 

The  ministry  of  Jesus  in  Galilee  is  a  fascinating  study 
of  practical  statesmanship.  It  has  become  associated  in  our 
minds  with  the  sermon  on  the  mount  and  the  parables  by 
the  sea  until  we  fail  to  emphasize  the  consummate  skill  with 
which  Jesus  gauged  the  human  forces  with  which  He  was 
dealing.  These  human  forces  manifested  themselves  in  two 
directions,  growing  popularity  and  growing  opposition.  Both 
these  movements  constituted  a  menace  to  his  real  purposes 
and  the  genius  with  which  He  handled  them  will  bear  com- 
parison with  the  highest  types  of  political  skill. 

Jesus  met  with  instant  popularity  in  Galilee.  We  have 
only  to  read  through  the  first  chapter  of  Mark  to  come  across 
such  verses  as,  "His  fame  spread  at  once  everywhere  in  all 
that  part  of  Galilee"  (vs.  28,  Weymouth)  and,  "When  they 
found  him  they  said,  Every  one  is  looking  for  you."  "Let 
us  go  elsewhere,  to  the  neighboring  country  towns,"  He 
replied,  "that  I  may  proclaim  my  message  there  also"  (vss. 
37,  38,  Weymouth)  ;  and  after  the  healing  of  the  leper,  "The 
man,  when  he  went  out,  began  to  tell  every  one  and  to 
publish  the  matter  abroad,  so  that  it  was  no  longer  possible 
for  Jesus  to  go  openly  into  any  town;  but  he  had  to  remain 
outside  in  unfrequented  places,  where  people  came  to  him 
from   all   parts"    (vs.  45,   Weymouth). 

45 


THE  WAY  OF  CHRIST 

With  the  growing  popularity  came  growing  opposition. 
We  shall  note  in  another  chapter  ]\Iark's  summary  of  the 
development  of  the  hostility  of  the  religious  leaders  (Mk. 
2-3:6).  Their  bitterness  is  traced  in  each  stage  of  its  devel- 
opment. At  the  healing  of  the  paralytic  borne  of  four  (Mk. 
2:1-12)  their  attack  is  spontaneous  and  based  on  high  re- 
ligious grounds.  "Who  can  forgive  sins  but  one,  even 
God?"  But  in  the  case  of  the  man  with  the  withered  hand 
(Mk.  3:1-6)  their  attack  is  deliberate,  "they  watched  him" 
(vs.  2),  and  is  based  merely  on  traditional  grounds.  The 
climax  of  their  attack  occurs  when  scribes  from  Jerusalem 
(Mk.  3  :22ff)  assert  that  Jesus'  motive  and  spirit  are  essen- 
tially evil.  With  this  attack  Jesus  sees  that  the  break  is 
final  and  declares  that  an  attitude  which  deliberately  twists 
good  into  evil  is  unpardonable.  The  growth  in  the  popular 
approval  of  Jesus  comes  more  slowly,  but  we  see  its  climax 
in  the  attempt  to  make  Him  king  by  force,  which  He  avoids, 
withdrawing  from  the  crowds   (John  6:15). 

Jesus  saw  both  these  movements  and  was  not  deceived  by 
either  of  them.  He  knew  that  the  crowds  who  came  to  Him 
were  largely  moved  by  a  desire  for  bread  or  relief  from 
physical  ailments.  His  great  heart  of  compassion  would  not 
let  Him  turn  people  away  hungry  or  sick,  even  though  He 
understood  full  well  that  "man  shall  not  live  by  bread 
alone,"  but  He  was  not  dazzled  or  confused  by  the  crowds 
that  flocked  to  Him.  His  mission  was  to  bring  in  the  New 
Order,  which  meant  first  of  all  the  rule  of  God  in  men's 
hearts,  and  then  through  them  a  ministry  to  the  social  needs 
of  humanity. 

A  lesser  leader  would  have  thought  the  eager  crowds 
spelled  success.     But  in  the  very  midst  of  this  glad  accept- 

46 


THE  STATESMANSHIP  OF  JESUS 

ance  and  enthusiasm,  Jesus  chose  twelve  men  to  be  with 
him  (]\Ik.  3:13-19).  He  was  looking  beyond  this  passing 
popularity.  With  the  clear-eyed  vision  of  a  statesman  He 
saw  the  need  of  a  group  of  men,  even  though  few  in  num- 
ber, who  should  catch  his  spirit  and  interpret  his  message 
to  the  world. 

He  knew  exactly  what  the  hostility  of  the  Pharisees  meant, 
also.  The  plaudits  of  the  crowds  lulled  Him  into  no  false 
sense  of  security.  These  crowds  would  scatter  with  the  first 
threatening  storm,  and  behind  the  carping  criticisms  of  the 
Pharisees  rose  the  black  thunder  cloud  of  organized  Juda- 
ism in  all  its  menace  and  might.  It  was  a  time  to  test  not 
only  his  courage  and  loyalty  but  also  his  wisdom  and  skill. 
He  was  not  yet  ready  to  face  his  foes,  not  because  He 
feared  them  but  because  He  dared  not  trust  his  message 
as  yet  to  the  few  who  were  really  beginning  to  share  his 
vision  of  the  New  Order. 

With  marvelous  insight  into  the  situation  He  changed 
his  whole  method  of  teaching.  Until  the  climax  of  the 
Pharisees'  hostility,  his  teaching  had  been  clear  and  definite, 
enlivened  by  m.any  a  witty  allusion  and  illuminated  by  many 
a  telling  story.  Now  He  begins  to  teach  in  parables  with 
the  express  purpose  of   sifting  his  crowd    (Mk.  4:12), 

These  parables  offered  nothing  for  the  hostile  Pharisees 
to  use  and  they  did  not  feed  the  sensational  and  political 
hopes  of  the  crowds.  They  accomplished  exactly  what 
He  had  in  mind,  for  Mark  tells  us  that  "when  He  was  alone, 
they  that  were  about  Him  with  the  twelve  asked  Him  to 
explain  the  parables"  (]\Ik.  4:10).  He  had  succeeded  in 
sifting  the  crowd  and  in  gaining  a  smaller  and  more  deeply 

47 


THE  WAY  OF  CHRIST 

interested  group,  to  whom  He  could  reveal  the  deeper  things 
of  the  New  Order,  its  real  spirit  and  meaning. 

IV.  The  Withdrawal  Into  the  North. 

The  public  ministry  in  Galilee  closed  with  conditions 
which  outwardly  resembled  the  results  of  the  early  Jerusalem 
ministry.  The  religious  authorities  were  thoroughly  alienated 
and  the  crowds  were  dropping  away.  Jesus'  teaching  had 
become  too  deep  for  them.  Even  some  of  the  outer  circle 
of  disciples  seem  to  have  fallen  away,  for  after  one  of  his 
most  spiritual  discourses  we  read  that  "many  of  his  disciples 
left  Him  and  went  away,  and  no  longer  associated  with 
Him"  (John  6:66,  Weymouth).  But  in  reality  the  situation 
was  quite  different  from  those  early  days.  When  some  of 
the  disciples  left  Him,  Jesus  turned  to  the  twelve  and 
asked,  "Will  you  go,  too?"  "Master,"  Simon  Peter  an- 
swered, "to  whom  shall  we  go?  You  have  the  words  of 
eternal  life." 

He  had  created  in  that  small  group  a  loyalty  upon  which 
He  could  build.  That  splendid  loyalty  was  the  fruit  of  his 
months  of  labor  in  Galilee.  Was  it  worth  the  effort?  Can 
we  think  of  Jesus  as  a  statesman  when  He  succeeded  only 
in  winning  the  abiding  loyalty  of  twelve  average  men?  And 
yet  He  entrusted  the  fate  of  the  New  Order  to  these  twelve 
men,  and  although  they  stumbled  and  almost  fell  they  did 
not  fail  Him. 

With  the  conclusion  of  the  public  ministry  in  Galilee 
Jesus  deliberately  turned  his  back  on  the  multitudes  and 
withdrew  into  the  rougher  highlands  of  upper  Galilee.  There 
He  gave  Himself  to  the  instruction  of  the  twelve.  At  last 
came  the  day  when  He  put  to  them  the  question  for  which 

48 


THE  STATESMANSHIP  OF  JESUS 

He    had    been    preparing    them    all    along.      Mark    tells    ths 
incident  with  his  customary  simplicity: 

On  the  way  He  began  to  ask  his  disciples,  Who  do  people 
say  that  I  am?  John  the  Baptist,  they  replied,  but  others  say, 
Elijah,  and  others,  that  it  is  one  of  the  prophets.  Then  He 
asked  them  pointedly.  But  you  yourselves,  who  do  you  say 
that  I  am?     You  are  the  Christ,  answered  Peter. 

That  confession  gains  its  tremendous  importance  in  Jesus' 
life  from  the  historical  situation.  The  very  circumstances 
in  the  midst  of  which  Peter  made  his  bold  statement  give 
it  its  importance.  Jesus  had  been  rejected  by  the  church, 
the  state  and  the  common  people.  To  confess  Him  as  the 
leader  of  the  New  Order  was  to  confess  that  the  New  Order 
itself  was  not  the  political  kingdom  the  people  expected, 
not  the  material,  nationalistic  kingdom  of  the  Pharisees,  but 
that  it  was  a  new  spiritual  order.  In  a  high  moment  of 
inspiration  Peter  and  the  rest  seem  to  have  understood 
faintly  at  least  the  mission  and  the  message  of  their  Master. 

They  could  not  read  that  New  Order  in  terms  of  the 
death  of  Jesus,  however.  Their  very  loyalty  to  Him  blinded 
their  eyes  until  they  could  not  see  how  his  death  was  to 
mean  the  ultimate  victory  and  triumph.  They  could  not 
understand  how  his  death  would  reveal  to  them,  and  to 
all  men  who  follow  in  his  steps,  the  infinite  love  of  God 
who   so   loved   the  world   that   He   gave   his   only   Son. 

They  could  not  understand  how  his  death  would  reveal 
sin  in  all  its  blackness  and  horror  and  how  they  would 
come  to  see  in  the  fact  of  Christ's  Cross  the  double  revela- 
tion of  God's  infinite  love  for  humanity  and  of  his  hatred 
of   sin.     Nor  could  they  know  that  his   death   would   mean 

49 


THE  WAY  OF  CHRIST 

release  for  them  from  their  own  burden  of  guilt  and  new 
power  for  living  the  life  of  the  ideal  citizen  of  the  New 
Order.  We  will  not  censure  them,  for  we  ourselves  have 
seen  too  dimly  into  the  mystery  of  Jesus'  death  and  the 
victory  which  came  out  of  it.  But  patiently  and  repeatedly 
Jesus  told  them  of  the  rapidly  approaching  crisis  and  what 
it  must  mean  for  Him  (Mk.  8:3iff;  9=30^;  io:32ff). 

V.  The  Last  Journey  to  Jerusalem. 

Jesus  was  never  so  truly  the  statesman  as  when  "he 
steadfastly  set  his  face  to  go  to  Jerusalem"  (Luke  9:51). 
All  other  doors  were  closed.  He  had  given  his  message  in 
Galilee.  He  had  won  from  the  disciples  a  confession  of 
absolute  allegiance  and  loyalty.  And  He  had  won  this  con- 
fession not  in  an  hour  of  personal  triumph,  when  the  crowd 
applauded,  but  in  an  hour  of  loneliness  and  apparent  de- 
feat. He  must  leave  Palestine  forever  or  face  Jerusalem. 
And  "he  steadfastly  set  his  face  to  go  to  Jerusalem."  He 
would  challenge  the  nation  once  again  at  Its  very  heart 
He  was  conscious  that  He  went  to  his  death.  But  He  knew 
that  his  death  meant  the  release  of  his  spirit  for  a  wider 
service. 

"The  time  has  come,"  He  told  certain  of  his  disciples, 
"for  the  Son  of  Man  to  be  glorified.  In  most  solemn  truth 
I  tell  you  that  unless  the  grain  of  wheat  falls  into  the 
ground  and  dies,  it  remains  what  it  was — a  single  grain; 
but  that  if  it  dies,  it  yields  a  rich  harvest"  (John  12:23, 
24,  Weymouth). 

But  in  spite  of  his  patient  instruction,  when  the  hour  of 
his  trial  and  death  came,  they  could  not  understand.  Their 
hearts  were  with  Him,  but  Jerusalem  and  Rome  seemed  too 

SO 


THE  STATESMANSHIP  OF  JESUS 

mighty  for  their  faith  to  battle  against.  He  went  to  his 
death  alone.  Into  that  awful  hour  we  may  not  go  with 
Jesus.  Who  can  say  what  the  final  battle  meant  to  Him? 
It  is  enough  for  us  that  He  emerged  the  victor  from  the 
last  terrible  struggle.  We  know  that  He  faced  death,  even 
the  death  of  the  Cross,  with  a  triumphant  confidence  that 
it  was  God's  way  of  establishing  the  New  Order. 

With  the  Easter  morning  the  statesmanship  of  Jesus  bore 
amazing  results.  Had  the  little  group  of  followers  quite 
lost  hope?  If  with  their  heads  they  had  failed  Him,  were 
not  their  hearts  crying  out,  "Who  shall  separate  us  from 
Christ's  love?  Neither  death  nor  Hfe !"  To  this  group  came 
die  message  of  the  empty  tomb  and  the  risen  Lord.  In 
a  moment  Jerusalem  and  Rome  seemed  powerless  in  com- 
parison with  the  hope  and  the  joy  of  the  New  Order  which 
was  even  then  beginning  to  be.  And  the  spirit  of  the  great 
leader  who  had  walked  with  them  over  Galilean  hills  and 
by  the  Galilean  lakes  took  command  again,  to  send  them  into 
all  the  world  with  the  transforming  message  of  his  eternal 
Kingdom. 


51 


CHAPTER  IV 

JESUS'  IDEA  OF  THE  NEW  ORDER 

SUGGESTIONS  FOR  PERSONAL  STUDY 

Biblical  Material. 

1.  Its  unseen  and  spiritual  character.  Luke  17 :20,  21. 
Contrast  John  6:15  and  Mk.  12:13-17. 

2.  Its  universal  scope.     Mt.  8:5-13,  esp.  10-12.  i 

3.  Its    fundamental    law.      Mt.    25:31-46;    Mk.    9:35;    Mk.  ■ 
10 :35-4S- 

4.  Its  gradual  growth.  Mt.  13:31-33;  Mk.  4:30-32;  Luke 
13:18,    19. 

5.  Its  transforming  effect.    Luke  13  :20,  21. 

6.  Its    progressive    development.      Mk.   4:26-29. 

7.  Its  inestimable  value.     Mt.   13 144-46. 

I.  The  New  Order  as  a  Kingdom. 

1.  Think  of  the  New  Order  as  the  Kingdom  of  God.  Why 
did  Jesus  use  that  term?  Would  He  have  used  it  if  He 
had  come  in  our  day?  Can  you  think  of  a  better  term  for 
our  use? 

2.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  what  form  of  government  in 
our  day  best  expresses  the  principles  of  the  "Kingdom"? 
What  was  Jesus'  characteristic  name  for  the  "King"  (look 
through  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount,  ]\It.  5-7,  with  this  in 
view)  and  for  the  "subjects"  in  this  Kingdom?  What  does 
this  reveal  concerning  the  New  Order? 

52 


THE  NEW  ORDER 

II.  Essentials  of  the  New  Order. 

1.  What  is  the  supreme  law  of  the  New  Order  by  which 
all  will  be  impartially  judged?  Is  that  the  law  by  which 
persons   are   estimated  in  your  group? 

2.  Study  Jesus'  description  of  the  great  worth  of  the 
New  Order.  What  are  the  values  to-day  for  which  men  are 
willing  to  give  all  they  possess?  Are  these  values  included 
in  Jesus'  Kingdom  program? 

3.  What  encouragement  is  to  be  gained  from  the  parables 
of  slow  yet  persistent  growth?  How  are  these  parables  at 
the  same  time  a  severe  test  for  the  individual  and  social 
life?     What  about  your  own  growth? 

4.  In  the  light  of  the  above  questions,  how  would  you 
define  the  New  Order?  Is  it  a  thing  or  a  spirit?  Or  is 
it  a  spirit  seeking  expression   in  things  and  among  people? 


We  have  discussed  the  startling  effect  of  John's  an- 
nouncement that  a  New  Order  was  imminent,  and  the 
way  in  which  Jesus,  far  more  quietly,  assumed  the  place  of 
leadership  in  this  New  Order.  We  have  studied  the  match- 
less statesmanship  of  Jesus  through  the  months  that  followed, 
even  to  the  triumphant  end.  But  why  need  we  of  the  twen- 
tieth century  be  especially  concerned  about  it?  Is  it  any- 
thing more  than  a  matter  of  antiquarian  interest?  Why 
bother  ourselves  about  what  took  place  in  an  outlandish 
corner  of  Syria  so  many  centuries  ago,  when  history  is  in 
the  making  so   rapidly   to-day? 

Men  dreamed  of  a  better  day  long  before  the  time  of 
JesUS,  and  the  air  has  been  full  of  visions  and  hopes  since 

53 


THE  WAY  OF  CHRIST 

his  time.  Was  his  idea  of  the  New  Order  so  very  different 
from  these?  Is  it  possible  that  the  New  Order  He  outHned 
will  do  as  a  program  for  to-day?  Is  it  conceivable  that  our 
world  is  ripe  for  the  New  Order  of  Jesus? 

Questions  like  these  lift  our  study  out  of  the  realm  of 
academic  thought  into  contact  with  the  rushing  currents  of 
the  world's  life.  We  must  approach  the  problem  of  the 
New  Order  as  Jesus  shaped  it  with  a  seriousness  of  purpose 
in  keeping  with  the   earnest  issues   of   the   hour. 

Some  of  these  questions  we  may  answer  at  once.  There 
can  be  no  possible  question  but  that  Jesus  believed  He  was 
talking  about  something  essentially  different  from  what  had 
gone  before.  Skilled  teacher  that  He  was,  He  began  where 
John  left  off,  but  He  knew  that  his  program  was  a  new  and 
radical  one.  He  said,  in  defending  his  disciples  for  failure 
to  observe  certain  customs,  "No  one  ever  mends  an  old 
cloak  with  a  patch  of  newly  woven  cloth.  Otherwise  the 
patch  put  on  would  tear  away  some  of  the  old,  and  a  worse 
hole  would  be  made.  Nor  do  people  pour  new  wine  into 
old  wineskins.  Otherwise  the  skins  would  split,  the  wine 
would  escape,  and  the  skins  be  destroyed.  But  they  put  new 
wine  into  fresh  skins  and  both  are  saved"  (Mt.  9:16,  17, 
Weymouth).  In  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount  He  repeatedly 
introduced  his  own  teaching  with  the  remark,  "You  have 
heard  that  it  was  said  to  the  ancients,"  over  against  which 
in  direct  contrast  He  sets,  "Rut  I  tell  you."  He  conceived 
his  plan  of  the  New  Order  to  be  very  different  from  the 
Old  Order.  He  was  not  a  destroyer,  to  be  sure,  but  a  builder, 
and  He  knew  that  the  foundations  already  built  afforded 
ample  base  for  the  new  structure   (Mt.  5:17),  but  the  mate- 

54 


THE  NEW  ORDER 

rials  were  of  his  own  choosing  and  He  constructed  it  after 
God's  plan. 

The  question  as  to  whether  Jesus'  conception  of  the  New 
Order  will  do  for  our  world  affords  the  best  approach  to 
our  study  of  just  what  Jesus  meant  by  the  New  Order. 

I.  The  New  Order  a  Kingdom  or  a  Democracy? 

John  had  declared  that,  "the  Kingdom  of  God  is  close 
at  hand,"  and  Jesus  picked  up  that  announcement  just  where 
John  dropped  it,  and,  sharpening  the  note  of  immediacy  and 
adding  a  positive  demand,  He  said,  "The  tim.e  is  fully  come 
and  the  Kingdom  of  God  is  close  at  hand ;  repent  and  believe 
this  good  news." 

The  term  both  John  and  Jesus  used  was,  "the  Kingdom 
of  God."  It  takes  conscious  effort  for  us  to  speak  and 
think  of  the  Kingdom  of  God  in  the  same  clear-cut  and 
definite  way  in  which  the  people  of  that  day  used  it.  To 
them  it  meant  not  some  vague  and  mysterious  thing  but 
a  very  definite  state  of  affairs  upon  this  earth.  They  differed 
as  to  the  way  in  which  the  Kingdom  would  come  but  they 
all  agreed  that  God  would  establish  it  upon  this  earth.  In- 
stead of  the  kingdom  qf  Greece  or  Rome  there  would  be 
the  Kingdom  of  God.  "And  in  the  days  of  those  kings 
shall  the  God  of  heaven  set  up  a  kingdom  which  shall  never 
be  destroyed.  .  .  .  And  the  kingdom  shall  be  given  to  the 
people  of  the  saints  of  the  Most  High"  (Daniel  2:44;  7:27). 
Jesus  meant  something  very  different  from  the  material, 
political,  national  kingdom  of  the  average  Jew,  but  his  ideal 
was   not   vague   or   insubstantial. 

But   the    very   word    kingdom    seems    to    remove    the    idea 

from    our   world    and    its    needs.      The    passion    of    mankind 

9 
55 


THE  WAY  OF  CHRIST 

to-day  is  not  for  another  kingdom  but  for  something  to 
take  the  place  of  kingdoms,  and  even  in  nations  ruled  by 
kings  the  dominant  hope  is  democracy.  Will  a  New  Order 
launched  under  the  name  of  a  kingdom  suffice  as  our  ideal? 

It  has  been  said  that  "if  our  Lord  had  come  to  earth 
to-day  instead  of  nineteen  centuries  ago,  He  would  prob- 
ably have  said  never  a  word  about  the  Kingdom  of  God, 
but  would  have  spoken  in  other  terms,"  yet  "what  He  would 
have  said  to-day  in  the  phrases  of  to-day  would  have  had 
the  same  meaning  as  what  He  did  say  in  the  phraseology 
of  Jewish  thought."  *  We  must  look  closer  to  discover  the 
inner  meaning  of  the  Kingdom. 

First  of  all,  in  the  mind  of  Jesus  it  was  the  Kingdom 
of  God.  The  absurdity  and  wrong  of  earthly  kingdoms,  to 
the  mind  of  the  average  person,  lie  in  the  arbitrary  eleva- 
tion of  one  mortal  man  to  power  over  his  fellow  mortals. 
But  the  New  Order  which  Jesus  proclaimed  as  "good  news" 
was  to  be  characterized  by  the  extension  of  the  rule  of  God, 
already  apparent  in  nature,  to  the  realm  of  humanity.  Its 
very  basis  was  in  the  direction  of  everything  reasonable 
and  right.  Granted  that  there  is  a  God  back  of  the  orderly 
and  matchless  processes  we  call  nature,  the  only  thing  worth 
while  in  the  world  is  to  discover  his  will  and  accomplish 
it  among  men.  But  everything  depends  upon  the  kind  of  king 
God  is  conceived  to  be.  If  He  is  a  tyrant  the  Kingdom  of 
God  will  turn  out  to  be  no  more  endurable  than  any  other 
despotism.  Here  we  shall  come  to  the  heart  of  Jesus'  idea 
of  the  New  Order. 

Look  through  the  gospels  and  find  the  name  which  Jesus 

*   Hogg:    Christ's   Message   of  Jhe   Kingdom,   page    ii. 

56 


THE  NEW  ORDER 

applies  to  God.  Upon  his  lips  the  ancient  terms  of  govern- 
ment and  royalty  are  merged  into  those  of  the  family. 
Jesus'  characteristic  name  for  God  is  not  King  but  Father. 
So  firmly  did  He  fix  that  name  upon  the  memory  of  his 
followers  that  the  epistles  of  the  New  Testament  beauti- 
fully speak  of  "the  God  and  Father  of  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ"  (Romans  15:6).  In  the  remarkable  parable  which 
has  been  called  the  parable  of  the  great  surprise  (Mt.  25:31- 
46)  He  does  use  the  regal  title,  but  in  such  fashion  as  to 
make  unmistakable  the  spirit  of  the  Kingdom.  It  is  a 
judgment  scene  in  which  the  great  King  passes  sentence 
upon  all  nations,  but  to  the  astonishment  of  those  judged 
they  are  not  accused  or  commended  for  their  attitude  toward 
court  etiquette  or  royal  decree  but  according  to  the  manner 
in  which  they  have  treated  the  hungry,  thirsty,  homeless, 
ill-clad,  sick  and  imprisoned.  And  to  add  to  their  surprise 
the  King  declares,  "In  solemn  truth  I  tell  you  that  in  so  far 
as  you  rendered  such  services  to  one  of  the  humblest  of 
these  my  brethren,  you  rendered  them  to  me"  (Mt.  25:40, 
Weymouth).     What  manner  of  Kingdom  is  this? 

Jesus  sharply  contrasts  the  spirit  of  the  Kingdom  to  the 
spirit,  observable  in  a  despotism.  "You  are  aware,"  He 
said,  "how  those  who  are  deemed  rulers  among  the  Gen- 
tiles lord  it  over  them  and  their  great  men  make  them  feel 
their  authority ;  but  it  is  not  to  be  so  among  you.  No, 
whoever  desires  to  be  great  among  you  must  be  your  serv- 
ant" (Mk.  10:42,  43).  Jesus  did  not  ignore  the  rightful 
ambitions  of  men  but  He  pointed  out  the  only  direction 
in  which  personal  ambition  can  have  unlimited  scope  in  the 
New  Order,  the  direction  of  service. 

Moreover,   as    God    is   not    King    but    Father,   so   the   men 

57 


THE  WAY  OF  CHRIST 

of  the  Kingdom  are  not  called  subjects  but  sons,  and  in 
their  relationship  to  each  other  they  are  brothers.  Jesus  did 
not  leave  this  side  of  his  teaching  visionary  but  actually 
created  a  small  group  of  followers  whom  He  bound  into 
a  fellowship  which  was  the  promise  of  this  wider  brother- 
hood. 

In  these  ways  Jesus  transformed  the  term  Kingdom.  By 
using  that  term  He  spoke  to  all  the  best  in  the  past  of  the 
Jews  but  in  every  use  of  it  He  broadened  and  deepened  its 
application  until  we  are  forced  to  see  that  He  was  not  think- 
ing of  an  archaic  form  of  political  government  which  a  world 
weary  of  dynastic  wars  and  social  injustice  is  about  to  throw 
off  like  a  worn-out  cloak,  but  He  was  thinking  of  a  spiritual 
commonwealth  in  which  a  Fatherly  God  might  express  his 
beneficent  will  through  brotherly  men. 

Instead  of  the  transient  dream  of  a  Galilean  peasant,  Jesus* 
New  Order  is  a  thrilling  challenge  to  the  present  day. 

II.  The  Unseen  and  Spiritual  Character  of  the  New  Order. 

Jesus  called  the  New  Order  the  Kingdom  of  God,  but  we 
have  seen  that  God  was  not  a  despot  or  the  men  of  the 
Kingdom  subjects  or  the  laws  of  the  Kingdom  tyrannical 
decrees.  All  this  helps  us  to  understand  the  spirit  of  the 
New  Order,  but  what  of  its  form?  Is  it  a  republic  or  a  democ- 
racy, is  it  a  socialistic  state  or  does  it  mean  anarchy  and 
the  abolition  of  all  government? 

In  our  day  men  are  mightily  concerned  about  forms  of 
government  and  we  must  ask  what  form  this  New  Order  of 
Jesus  takes.  Jesus  was  confronted  by  these  same  questions. 
There  were  burning  political  questions  then  as  now,  and  by 
looking  at  his  attitude  toward  them  we  may  come  to  under- 

58 


THE  NEW  ORDER 

stand  the  New  Order.  We  discover  that  He  definitely  avoided 
aligning  the  New  Order  with  any  form  of  political  theory. 
Upon  one  occasion  we  read,  ''They  were  about  to  come  and 
carry  him  off  by  force  and  make  him  a  King,  but  Jesus  with- 
drew" (John  6:15).  Another  time  the  Pharisees  and  Hero- 
dians,  an  unholy  alliance,  asked  Him,  Is  it  right  to  pay  taxes 
to  Caesar  or  not?  thinking,  H  He  says  yes,  that  will  dis- 
credit Him  in  the  eyes  of  all  who  hate  Rome,  and  if  He 
says  no,  that  will  involve  Him  in  difficulties  with  the  govern- 
ment. Jesus  saw  through  the  plot  and  we  can  almost  see 
his  eyes  twinkle  with  the  genuine  humor  of  the  situation 
as  He  turned  to  them  with,  "As  for  you  Pharisees,  render 
to  Caesar  the  things  that  are  Caesar's,  and  as  for  you 
Herodians,  render  to  God  the  things  that  are  God's"  (cf.  Mk, 
12:13-15). 

Apparently  He  would  not  commit  the  New  Order  to  any 
outward  form  of  government.  From  one  point  of  view  tMs 
just  suited  the  Pharisees,  for  they  thought  it  impossible  to 
throw  off  the  Roman  yoke.  Their  ideas  of  the  Kingdom  were 
strictly  materialistic  and  national,  however,  for  they  expected 
the  Kingdom  to  come  down  out  of  the  heavens,  by  the 
miraculous  act  of  God,  and  then  to  be  established  upon 
earth  for  Jews  and  Jews  only,  and  they  were  always  specu- 
lating about  the  signs  and  portents  which  should  announce 
its  coming.  But  Jesus  seems  to  have  refused  just  as  definitely 
to  align  his  New  Order  with  their  idea. 

It  is  in  contrast  to  the  Pharisees'  conception  of  the  new 
order  that  Jesus  made  the  most  illuminating  statement  to  be 
found  anywhere  in  the  gospels  concerning  his  conception  of 
the  Kingdom.  They  had  asked  about  its  coming  and  appar- 
ently   some    were    saying,    It    will    come    in   this    form,   and 

59 


THE  WAY  OF  CHRIST 

others,  It  will  come  in  that  form,  and  then  they  came  to 
Jesus  with  the  question,  What  form  do  you  think  the  King- 
dom will  take?  Jesus  answered,  The  Kingdom  of  God  will 
not  be  a  form  at  all,  and  when  you  get  this  form  of  govern- 
ment or  that  order  of  political  theory  you  won't  be  able 
to  say,  Behold  here  the  Kingdom  is  or  there  it  is,  for  the 
Kingdom  of  God  is  not  a  form  of  government,  it  is  an 
inner  spirit;  the  Kingdom  of  God  is  within  you  (Luke  17:20, 
21).  In  essence  the  New  Order  is  unseen  and  spiritual.  It 
works  its  way  from  the  inside  out  and  not  from  the  outside 
in. 

This  is  not  to  say  that  Jesus'  New  Order  is  an  intangible 
something,  and  that  if  He  were  here  in  human  form  to-day 
He  would  not  be  passionately  interested  in  the  rising  tide 
of  democracy  in  our  world;  it  is  simply  to  say  that  He  did 
not  commit  the  Kingdom  to  any  political  organization  but 
that  He  did  believe  that  the  spirit  of  brotherhood  in  the 
hearts  of  his  followers  would  create  the  type  of  government 
best  suited  to  the  expression  of  itself. 

The  New  Order  is  an  unseen  and  spiritual  commonwealth 
seeking  to  create  in  the  world  appropriate  political  and  social 
forms  for  its  adequate  expression. 

III.  Characteristics  of  the  New  Order. 

Jesus  illustrated  the  characteristics  of  the  New  Order  by  the 
use  of  a  wealth  of  figures  and  parables,  each  one  of  which 
adds  to  the  picture  as  a  whole.  The  symbols  He  used  in 
describing  the  Kingdom  are  significant,  in  that  they  are  the 
common  and  ever  present  realities  of  life.  The  words  most 
frequently  upon  his  lips  are  such  terms  as  light,  heaven,  salt, 
seed,    living   water.     He   sought   to   convey   in   terms   of   the 

60 


THE  NEW  ORDER 

common  life  his  great  spiritual  message.  He  was  a  true 
artist,  not  simply  because  of  the  rhetorical  fitness  and  beauty 
of  the  symbols  He  chose,  but  because  these  symbols  give  us 
an  insight  into  the  inner  meaning  of  the  truth  they  are 
meant  to  convey. 

In  speaking  of  the  inestimable  value  of  the  New  Order 
He  said,  it  is  like  "treasure  buried  in  the  open  country  which 
a  man  finds,  but  buries  again,  and  in  his  joy  about  it  goes 
and  sells  all  he  has  and  buys  that  piece  of  ground,"  and 
similarly,  it  is  like  "a  jewel  merchant  who  is  in  quest  of 
choice  pearls.  He  finds  one  most  costly  pearl;  he  goes  away; 
and  though  it  costs  all  he  has,  he  buys  it"  (Mt.  13:  44-46, 
Weymouth).  These  vivid  parables  seem  to  illustrate  but  one 
phase  of  the  New  Order,  its  priceless  value,  but  the  figures 
most  frequently  used  set  forth  the  New  Order  as  a  living, 
moving  thing.  How  perfectly  Jesus  describes  the  gradual 
growth  of  the  Kingdom  in  the  parables  of  the  mustard  seed 
(Mt.  13:31,  32),  the  developing  grain  (Mk.  4:26-29),  the 
wheat  and   tares!      (Mt.    13:24-30.) 

Could  a  more  telling  vehicle  for  teaching  the  transform- 
ing effect,  gradual  yet  persistent,  of  the  Kingdom  spirit  be 
conceived  than  the  parable  of  the  yeast?  "To  what  shall  I 
compare  the  Kingdom  of  God?  It  is  like  yeast  which  a 
woman  takes  and  buries  in  a  bushel  of  flour,  to  work  there 
till  the  whole  is  leavened"  (Luke  13:21,  Weymouth).  The 
New  Order  works  quietly  like  the  yeast.  It  persists  until  the 
whole  is  leavened.  Just  as  the  mass  of  dough  rising  and 
falling,  the  bubbles  swelling  and  bursting,  are  only  a  proof 
of  the  active  presence  of  the  yeast,  so  the  troubled  surface 
of  human  history  reveals  the  presence  of  the  truth  of  God 
at   work   in   the   world,   and   we    may   take   heart   from   the 

61 


THE  WAY  OF  CHRIST 

very  upheavals  of  humanity.  And  the  New  Order,  like  the 
yeast,  works  by  contagion.  The  yeast,  insignificant  in  quan- 
tity compared  with  the  mass  of  dough,  could  never  pervade 
the  whole  except  that  each  tiny  particle  of  leaven  communi- 
cates itself  to  those  particles  nearest  it.  Similarly  by  con- 
tagion of  character  the   New   Order  finds  its   growth. 

These  parables  of  growth  seem  to  suggest  that  the  coming 
of  the  New  Order  depends  upon  the  co-operation  of  men  with 
God.  As  it  is  God  whose  earth  and  air  and  sunshine  mature 
and  foster  the  seed,  so  it  is  man  whose  planting  and  tending 
must  render  the  gifts  of  God  operative  in  human  conditions. 
But  even  while  realizing  this  responsibility,  man  need  not 
be  anxious  for  the  fruitage,  for  that  is  in  God's  own  hands : 
"The  earth  bears  fruit  of  itself;  first  the  blade,  then  the 
ear,  then  the  full  grain  in  the  ear"  (Mk.  4:26-29).  Jesus 
fully  describes  the  part  human  effort  will  play  in  the  coming 
of  the  New  Order  and  this  must  be  our  study  in  a  later 
chapter. 

Finally  Jesus'  characterization  of  the  New  Order  lifted  it 
out  of  its  national  and  materialistic  limitations  into  the  realm 
of  a  universal  commonwealth  of  the  spirit.  This  appears 
almost  as  strikingly  from  his  silences  as  from  his  utter- 
ances, for  He  has  nothing  to  say  about  Rome  or  the  over- 
throw of  Israel's  enemies  or  her  triumphant  rule.  "What 
He  has  to  say  does  not  concern  men  as  Jews  but  men  as 
men."  *  Upon  one  occasion  particularly,  when  the  faith  of  a 
Roman  captain  was  revealed,  He  solemnly  declared  in  a  memo- 
rable figure,  "I  tell  you  that  many  will  come  from  the  east  and 
from  the  west  and  will  recline  at  the  table  with  Abraham, 

*  Rail :  New  Testament  History,  p.  70. 

62 


THE  NEW  ORDER 

Isaac  and  Jacob  in  the  Kingdom  of  the  heavens,  while  the 
natural  heirs  of  the  Kingdom  will  be  driven  out  into  the 
darkness  outside"    (Mt.  8:10-12). 

IV.  The  New  Order  an  Individual  and  Social  Reality. 

We  have  emphasized  the  New  Order  as  something  which  is 
first  of  all  inner  and  spiritual,  but  we  suggested  that  Jesus' 
idea  was  no  less  concrete  than  the  current  conceptions,  even 
though  his  Kingdom  is  neither  nationalistic  nor  materialistic. 
It  is  very  easy  for  us  to  volatilize  the  New  Order  of  Jesus 
into  a  series  of  abstractions,  but  if  it  was  only  an  impracticable 
dream  it  will  not  do  for  our  day.  It  is  a  doubtful  gain  to 
see  a  fairer  vision  if  the  new  be  as  unattainable  as  the  old. 
Such  a  vision  only  brings  added  despair  to  a  world  eager  for 
help. 

In  reality,  the  supreme  contribution  of  Jesus  to  our  world 
was  his  own  life,  lived  under  conditions  such  as  we  have 
to  face,  for  He  not  only  had  to  preach  about  the  New  Order 
but  He  lived  it.  When  there  appeared  upon  the  plains  of 
human  history  One  whose  faith  in  God  was  unwavering  and 
unbroken,  the  Kingdom  became  a  concrete  reality.  Jesus 
moved  about  supplementing  at  every  turn  weak  and  defec- 
tive human  life.  He  proved  in  terms  of  deeds,  which  are 
their  own  best  commentary,  that  God  has  no  joy  in  sin 
and  suffering  and  disease,  in  human  hunger  and  want  and 
ignorance.  He  embodied  the  Kingdom  spirit.  In  Him  the 
New  Order  became  a  living  reality. 

He  did  more  than  that.  He  gathered  about  Him  a  dozen 
ordinary  men  whom  no  one  could  accuse  of  being  saints  or 
philosophers,  and  by  means  of  that  little  group  He  made 
the  Kingdom  a  social  reality.     It  was  a  slow  process,  imper- 


THE  WAY  OF  CHRIST 

fectly  realized,  yet  at  the  end  He  had  so  lived  Himself  into 
their  lives  that  He  could  commit  the  entire  future  of  the 
New  Order  to  them,  and  all  that  is  best  and  finest  in  our  civil- 
ization we  owe  to  the  fact  that  in  those  twelve  men  the 
Kingdom   became    a    social    fact. 

Throughout  the  succeeding  ages  this  inner  spiritual  King- 
dom has  sought  social  expression.  Often  the  social  expres- 
sion has  been  utterly  inadequate;  always  it  has  needed  to  be 
corrected  by  the  Master  who  called  it  into  being.  And  never 
before  in  all  history  has  the  world  been  in  such  dire  need 
of  adequate  expression,  through  a  human  brotherhood,  of  the 
Kingdom  spirit  of  the  Christ. 

V.  A  Summary. 

Jesus'  idea  of  the  New  Order,  then,  is  the  reign  of  a  Fa- 
therly God  in  the  hearts  of  men  who  thereby  become  brothers. 
Its  fundamental  law  is  the  law  of  service.  While  primarily 
a  matter  of  the  spirit  and  never  to  be  confused  with  out- 
ward forms  of  government  or  theological  speculation,  this 
New  Order  seeks  adequate  social  and  political  forms  of 
expression,  in  every  age.  It  is  of  inestimable  value,  worthy 
of  the  entire  resources  of  the  individual,  a  thing  of  slow 
growth  but  of  transforming  power.  While  it  challenges  the 
highest  idealism,  it  has  actually  been  realized  upon  our  earth 
and  is  capable  of  successful  approximation  by  common  men. 
It  is  the  Supreme  Good  of  human  existence,  carrying  with 
it  in  proper  relationship  all  other  things  of  real  worth   (Mt. 

6:33). 

How  we  may  qualifyfor  citizenship  in  this  New  Order  will 

be  our  next  study. 

64 


CHAPTER  V 
CONDITIONS  OF  ENTRANCE 

SUGGESTIONS  FOR  PERSONAL  STUDY 

Biblical  Material. 

1.  Repentance   and  belief.     Mk.    1:15. 

2.  Following    Jesus.      Mk.    1:16-20    cf.    Mt.    4:18-22    and 
Luke   S:i-ii;    Mk.   2:13,    14. 

3.  Appreciation.     Luke   14:15-24. 

4.  Receptivity.     Mk.   10:13-16  cf.   Mt.   19:13-15  and  Luke 

18:15-17- 

5.  Warning  notes. 

a.  The    danger    of    riches.      Mk.    10:17-27    cf.    Mt. 
19:16-26  and  Luke  18:18-27. 

b.  Sacrifice  of   personal   considerations.     Mk.   9:43- 
47  cf .  Mt.  5  :29,  30. 

c.  The  cost.    Luke  14:25-33  cf.  Mt.  10:37,  38. 

d.  The  demands.     Luke  9:57-62  cf.     Mt.  8:19-22. 

6.  Individual  cases. 

a.  The  fishermen  and  Matthew.     Mk.  1:16-20;  2:13, 
14. 

b.  The  Gerasene  demoniac.    Mk.  5:18-20  esp.  vs.  19 

c.  Zaccheus.     Luke  19:1-10. 

d.  The  rich  young  man.     Mt.  19:16-20. 

7.  A  transformed  life.     John  3:1-3. 

65 


THE  WAY  OF  CHRIST 

I.  Positive  Demands. 

1.  Try  to  frame  the  positive  requirements  of  Jesus  in  the 
terms  of  life  to-day.  What  is  repentance  in  view  of  the 
coming  of  the  New  Order?  Does  it  refer  to  something  more 
than  mere  "personal"  wrong  doing?  Does  it  include  one's 
attitude  to  one's  group?  Does  it  include  negligence  and  a  lack 
of  responsibility  as  well  as  positive  social  sins? 

2.  What  does  it  mean  to  "believe"  in  the  New  Order? 
How  would  you  distinguish  "belief"  from  "hope"  in  regard 
to  the  coming  of  a  New  Order?  Is  your  attitude  one  of 
"hope"    or   "belief"? 

3.  Examine  the  statement,  "Follow  me."  What  did  it  mean 
for  the  fishermen  and  Matthew?  Does  it  mean  anything 
so  radical  as  that  now? 

4.  Study  "appreciation"  and  "receptivity"  as  Kingdom 
qualities.  What  is  the  importance  of  these  qualities  in 
ordinary  social  life?  Are  they  equally  applicable  to  the 
New  Social  Order  and  to  one's  attitude  toward  truth? 

II.  Hindrances. 

I.  Read  over  these  hindrances  as  Jesus  sets  them  forth, 
materialism,  selfishness,  superficial  enthusiasm  (failure  to 
count  the  cost),  etc.  Add  to  the  list  present-day  hindrances 
to  citizenship  in  the  New  Order.  What  are  your  personal 
hindrances? 

III.  The  Transformed  Life. 

I.     Note    the    variety   of    circumstances    under    which    the 
men  whom  Jesus  transformed  spent  their  lives. 
2     Can  you  see  an  answer  to  Nicodemus'  question   (John 

66 


CONDITIONS  OF  ENTRANCE 

3  :4)   in  the  transformation  wrought  in  the  lives  of  Zaccheus 
and  others? 

3.  What  has  the  leadership  of  Jesus  meant  in  your  life? 
Is  it  because  of  failure  to  meet  his  demands  that  it  has  not 
meant  more? 


In  the  last  chapter  we  sought  to  define  the  New  Order 
as  it  appears  in  Jesus'  teaching.  Now  we  are  going  to 
see  it  as  Jesus  presents  it  to  the  men  of  his  own  day,  in 
its  claims  upon  them  and  its  relation  to  the  lives  they  were 
living.  We  shall  come  to  closer  grips  with  the  New  Order 
in  this  connection,  for  this  was  Jesus'  way  of  presenting 
it.  He  never  defined  the  Kingdom  and  seems  not  to  have 
been  greatly  concerned  about  theories,  but  He  was  concerned 
about  people.  Practically  everything  He  said  was  the  prod- 
uct of  the  give-and-take  of  personal  conversation  or  of  some 
concrete  human  situation.  A  wayside  encounter,  a  quiet 
noontide  talk,  the  action  of  religious  leaders,  the  needs  of 
a  crowd,  these  called   forth  his   most  profound  words. 

In  our  day  we  are  challenged  to  remember  that  this  Jesus, 
whom  we  have  sometimes  been  tempted  to  think  of  as  a 
dreamer,  did  not  outline  his  splendid  ideal  of  a  New  Order 
in  the  quiet  of  a  hermit's  cell  or  a  scholar's  study.  In 
fact,  He  never  committed  a  word  of  it  to  writing.  It  was 
all  the  product  of  face-to-face  contact  with  living  men  and 
women  in  the  midst  of  the  rough  and  tumble  of  life.  For 
these  reasons  the  New  Order  gains  in  reality  when  we  see 
how  Jesus  put  it  up  to  ordinary  men. 

Any  movement  or  organization  stands  revealed  by  its   re- 

^7 


THE  WAY  OF  CHRIST 

quirements  even  more  than  by  its  promises  or  ideals.  "VVe 
shall  be  able  to  put  the  New  Order  to  this  practical  test  by 
asking  what  the  conditions  of  entrance  are  as  Jesus  formu- 
lated them.  The  answer  will  be  found  under  four  general 
statements.  First,  the  conditions  of  entrance  into  the  New 
Order  are  very  simple.  Second,  they  are  very  exacting. 
Third,  they  differ  with  different  individuals.  Fourth,  partici- 
pation in  the  New  Order  means  a  transformed  person." 

I.  The  Simplicity  of  the  Conditions. 

When  we  remember  that  Jesus  is  here  beginning  the  procla- 
mation of  a  world  religion  which  has  lasted  through  nine- 
teen centuries  and  has  claimed  the  allegiance  of  the  most 
progressive  nations  and  races  of  the  world,  the  naked  simplic- 
ity of  his  initial  demands  upon  men  is  astounding.  He 
began  by  announcing,  "The  time  has  fully  come,  and  the 
Kingdom  of  God  is  close  at  hand :  repent  and  believe  this 
Good  News"  (Mk.  1:15,  Weymouth).  Some  time  after  this 
He  was  passing  along  the  shore  of  the  Lake  of  Galilee  and 
saw  there  two  pairs  of  brothers,  fishermen,  and  He  said  to 
them,  "Come  and  follow  me"  (Mk.  1:16),  and  they  left  their 
nets  and  followed  him.  Another  incident,  later  in  his  min- 
istry, is  characteristic  of  the  demands  He  made.  "They 
were  bringing  little  children  to  Jesus,  that  he  might  touch 
them;  but  the  disciples  rebuked  them.  But  when  Jesus  saw  I 
it,  he  was  indignant,  and  said  to  them.  Let  the  little  children 
come  to  me  and  forbid  them  not;  for  of  such  is  the  Kingdom 
of  God.  I  tell  you  truly.  Whoever  shall  not  receive  the 
Kingdom  of  God  as  a  little  child,  shall  by  no  means  enter 
it"   (Mk.  10:13-16). 

Again   He   told   of   a   man   who   planned   to   give   a   great 

6S 


CONDITIONS  OF  ENTRANCE 

supper  and  invited  many  people.  But  when  the  time  for  the 
supper  arrived,  with  ludicrous  unanimity  they  pleaded  press- 
ing engagements.  Then  the  master  of  the  house  said  to  his 
servant,  "If  these  people  don't  want  to  eat  my  supper  I  will 
invite  people  who  do.  Go  out  quickly  into  the  streets  and 
lanes  of  the  city,  and  bring  in  here  the  poor  and  the  crip- 
ples, the  blind  and  the  lame."  And  the  master  of  the  house 
added,  "I  tell  you  not  one  of  those  men  who  were  invited 
shall  taste  of   my   supper"    (Luke   14:15-24). 

Could  anything  be  easier  or  simpler?  He  demanded  the 
same  genuine  repentance  which  had  been  John's  keynote. 
He  insisted  that  people  have  a  thoroughly  positive  attitude 
toward  the  good  news  that  the  New  Order  was  at  hand.  They 
must  believe  it  and  they  must  be  willing  to  show  the  genu- 
ineness of  their  belief  by  readjusting  their  lives  to  the  extent 
of  literally  following  Him  if  He  demanded  it.  They  must 
have  the  teachableness  of  a  child  and  they  must  be  hungry 
for  the  New  Order.  Repent,  Believe  in  the  Good  News,  Fol- 
low Me,  Be  Teachable,  Be  Hungry  for  the  New  Order. 
These  are  the  characteristic  demands  which  Jesus  made  m 
the  early  days  in  Galilee. 

Jesus  asked  for  a  certain  attitude  rather  than  any  attam- 
ment.  The  men  whom  He  called  into  fellowship  with  Him- 
self were  not  versed  in  theology.  They  had  no  well-defined 
theory  about  Jesus.  They  were  not  asked  to  confess  any 
creed.  He  did  not  demand  perfection  of  character  or  an 
adequate  intellectual  grasp  of  the  Kingdom.  As  a  matter 
of  fact,  long  after  this  these  men  were  both  unstable  m 
character  and  clouded  in  understanding.  They  were  not 
saints  or  theologians,  but  they  were  men  of  moral  earnest- 
ness, who  were  ready  to  commit  their  lives  to  the  New  Order, 

69 


THE  WAY  OF  CHRIST 

and  they  were  so  hungry  and  thirsty  for  the  righteousness 
that  should  characterize  it,  that  in  true  teachableness  and 
humility   they  left   all   and    followed   Jesus. 

Are  these  the  initial  conditions  of  entrance  into  the  New 
Order  to-day?  If  Jesus  were  to  walk  among  men  to-day 
would  He  attach  unto  Himself  the  men  and  the  women  who 
are  hungry  and  thirsty  for  justice  and  mercy  in  our  world, 
who  are  willing  to  commit  themselves  body  and  soul  to  the 
better  day?     Just  what  tests  would  He  apply  now? 

II.  The  Exacting  Demands  of  the  New  Order. 

The  exacting  nature  of  Jesus'  demands  are  even  more 
astounding  than  their  simplicity.  Each  one  of  the  simple 
conditions  for  entrance  into  the  New  Order  is  rigorously 
thorough-going.  Jesus  meant  by  Repent  just  that  moral 
renovation  of  the  entire  life  which  John  the  Baptist  had 
called  for.  He  meant  by  Believe  in  the  Good  News  no 
saccharine  optimism  that  "things  will  come  out  right  in 
the  end,"  but  a  personal  commitrnent  to  the  New  Order. 
Belief  such  as  He  called  for  was  not  an  uncertain  step  in 
the  dark  but  the  launching  of  the  entire  personality  in  the 
service  of  the  Kingdom.  And  when  He  said,  Folloiv  me, 
He  made  the  most  severe  demand  of  all. 

We  have  thought  often  of  the  beauty  of  that  scene  by 
Galilee  (Mk.  1:16-20).  The  fishermen  are  at  their  nets;  the 
strolling  Teacher  passes  by;  He  calls  them  into  pleasant 
fellowship  with  Him,  and  they  leave  their  boats  and  the 
blue  waters  of  Galilee.  But  the  dominant  note  of  the  pic- 
ture is  power.  Jesus  is  taking  control  of  the  lives  of  these 
men.  He  is  asking  no  less  than  that  they  abandon  their 
life    tasks    and    at    his    bidding   undertake    an    entirely    new 

70 


CONDITIONS  OF  ENTRANCE 

adventure.  This  is  something  radical.  And  then  his  re- 
quirement that  citizens  of  the  New  Order  have  the  child- 
like spirit,  that  seems  harmless  enough!  "The  Kingdom  of 
God  belongs  to  those  who  are  childlike"  (Mk.  10:14).  But 
we  need  to  remember  that  in  this  same  connection  He  said: 
*'In  solemn  truth  I  tell  you  that  no  one  who  does  not  receive 
the  Kingdom  of  God  like  a  little  child  will  by  any  possibil- 
ity enter  it"  (Mk.  10:15).  And  even  the  genuinely  humor- 
ous and  delightful  story  of  the  man  who  gave  the  great 
supper  (Luke  14:15-24)  concludes  with  a  grave  warning: 
"For  I  tell  you,  not  one  of  those  men  who  were  invited  shall 
taste  of  my  supper." 

We  do  not  have  to  read  far  in  the  gospels  to  discover 
how  serious  the  matter  of  citizenship  in  the  New  Order  really 
is.  Jesus'  demands  were  exactly  as  uncompromising  as  the 
demands  which  a  nation  makes  of  her  citizens  in  time  of 
war.  He  said:  "If  any  one  is  coming  to  me  who  does  not 
hate  his  father  and  mother,  wife  and  children,  brothers  and 
sisters,  yes  and  his  own  life  also,  he  cannot  be  a  disciple 
of  mine"  (Luke  14:26,  27).  We  used  to  find  it  necessary 
to  explain  that  Jesus'  words  were  hyperbolic,  and  that  He 
was  only  demanding  that  absolute  loyalty  which  will  be  ready 
to  break  all  home  ties,  but  millions  have  learned  by  experi- 
ence just  what  Jesus  meant  by  the  partings  that  seem  little 
less  cruel  than  hate. 

In  similar  passages  (Luke  9:57-62)  Jesus  emphasized  abso- 
lute loyalty  as  a  requirement  of  the  New  Order.  His  words, 
"No  man  who  looks  back  after  having  put  his  hand  to  the 
plow  is  fit  for  the  Kingdom  of  God,"  are  still  the  classic 
expression  of  unswerving  loyalty  to  a  cause.  He  needed 
heroic  men  who  were  ready  to  sacrifice  all  and  venture  all. 

71 


HE  WAY  OF  CHRIST 

Yet  He  asked  his  disciples  to  sit  down  first  and  with  abso- 
lute sincerity  to  count  the  cost  (Luke  14:28-33). 

By  means  of  startling  figures  of  speech,  Jesus  taught  that 
all  personal  considerations,  however  dear  or  indispensable 
they  seem,  must  be  sacrificed  for  the  New  Order.  "If  your 
hand  should  cause  you  to  sin,  cut  it  off;  it  would  be  better 
for  you  to  enter  into  life  maimed,"  etc.  (Mk.  9:43-47,  Wey- 
mouth). And  to  the  amazement  of  his  disciples  He  re- 
peatedly declared  that  wealth  was  often  a  barrier  to  citi- 
zenship in  the  New  Order,  and  in  particular  cases  where  it 
was  evidently  such  a  barrier  He  did  not  hesitate  to  advise 
that  it  be  disposed  of    (Mk.   10:17-27). 

III.  Readjustments  in  the  Lives  of  Individuals. 

We  have  reviewed  the  simple  yet  exacting  conditions  of 
entrance  into  the  New  Order.  In  general  Jesus  called  for  a 
whole-hearted  loyalty  to  the  Kingdom.  But  He  did  not  set 
forth  any  one  way  in  which  that  loyalty  must  find  expres- 
sion, and,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  we  find  a  variety  of  individual 
readjustments  caused  by  allegiance  to  the  New  Order. 

For  twelve  men,  citizenship  in  the  New  Order  meant  leav- 
ing their  fishing  boats  (Mk.  1:16-20)  and  their  business 
offices  (Mk.  2:13,  14)  to  follow  Jesus.  Mark's  gospel,  with 
characteristic  conciseness,  explains  the  purpose  of  this  sum- 
mons:  "He  appointed  twelve  that  they  might  be  with  him 
and  that  he  might  send  them  forth"  (Mk.  3:14).  Through- 
out the  Christian  centuries  "Following  Christ"  has  meant  just 
such  a  radical  change  in  the  entire  circumstances  of  groups 
of  men,  and  with  the  same  end  in  view,  "that  they  might  be 
with  him  and  that  he  might  send  them  forth."  The  mani- 
fold ministries  of  the  modern  church  and  the  richly  varied 

72 


CONDITIONS  OF  ENTRANCE 

opportunities  of  the  missionary  field  repeat  Christ's  words, 
"Come  and  follow  me,"  and  for  many,  citizenship  can  mean 
no  less  than   dropping  everything  to   respond. 

But  although  the  pages  of  our  records  are  largely  filled 
with  the  doings  of  Jesus  and  these  twelve  whom  He  called 
into  fellowship^  there  are  not  wanting  priceless  accounts  of 
what  happened  in  the  lives  of  certain  common  men  who  were 
not  asked  to  leave  all  and  follow  Him. 

One  such  individual  wanted  to  give  up  everything  else  and 
follow  Jesus,  but  Jesus  very  definitely  told  him  that  citizen- 
ship in  his  case  meant  something  more  prosaic,  if  just  as 
serviceable.  Read  the  dramatic  story  of  the  insane  man  of 
the  Gerasene  country  (Mk.  5:1-20  and  parallels).  This  wild 
man  of  the  hills  had  terrorized  the  whole  country-side,  but 
the  quiet  majesty  of  the  Master  was  more  than  a  match  for 
his  untamed  spirit  and  he  found  himself  restored  to  that 
world  from  which  he  had  been  cut  off.  Imagine  his  relief 
and  joy!  It  does  him  no  little  credit  that  as  the  Master 
is  about  to  leave  he  rushes  up  to  the  boat  and  with  heart 
swelling  with  gratitude  cries  out,  "Take  me  with  you,  I'll 
serve  you.  Til  go  anywhere  with  you.  Only  take  me  with 
you."  But  Jesus  turns  to  him  with  the  answer,  "No.  Go 
home  to  your  friends  and  tell  them  what  the  Lord  has 
done  for  you  and  how  he  has  had  mercy  on  you." 

It  was  not  an  easy  commission.  One  can  imagine  that 
in  the  home  community  the  man  restored  to  sanity  would 
meet  some  suspicion.  Neighbor  would  remark  to  neighbor, 
"I  understand  that  So-and-so  is  home  again,  and  they  say 
he  is  clothed  and  in  his  right  mind.  But  as  for  me"  (with 
a  shrug  of  the  shoulder)  "I  think  he  will  bear  watching. 
You  never  can  tell  about  people  that  have  had*  that  disease." 

7d 


THE  WAY  OF  CHRIST 

Far  more  romantic  would  have  been  the  companionship 
with  Jesus  in  strange  regions.  But  citizenship  for  him 
meant  taking  his  reHgion  home  with  him  and  living  it  out 
under  familiar  and  prosaic  circumstances.  And  he  did  it,  with 
what  results  the  gospel  story  records.  His  transformed 
life  was  a  telling  sermon  to  the  entire  district  (Mk.  5:20). 

Like  Kipling's  Mulholland  we  are  prone  to  want  to  preach 
our  religion  "handsome  and  out  of  the  wet,"  but  "The  word 
of  the  Lord  were  lain  upon  me,  and  I  done  what  I  was 
set." 

Luke  has  preserved  for  us  the  story  of  a  man  for  whom 
entrance  into  the  Kingdom  meant  a  readjustment  of  his 
business  practices  (Luke  19:1-10).  No  character  in  the  New 
Testament  has  more  of  human  interest  than  this  same  Zac- 
cheus.  Here  as  ever  Luke  is  the  artist,  and  with  a  few 
deft  strokes  of  the  pen  he  lets  us  see  and  understand  his 
character.  "He  was  a  chief  publican  and  he  was  rich." 
This  man  had  money  but  no  friends.  To  all  Jericho  this 
tax  gatherer  was  a  renegade  Jew  who  had  sold  his  country 
for  pieces  of  silver.  He  had  his  fine  house  but  no  friends. 
No  wonder  the  publicans  became  a  lot  of  cynical,  sour, 
hard-hearted,  tight-fisted  men !  But  this  Zaccheus  had  higher 
aspirations  than  his  kind.  He  had  heard  of  a  man  gifted 
beyond  belief  with  a  genius  for  friendship,  and  when  the 
report  came  that  Jesus  was  drawing  near  to  Jericho,  Zac- 
cheus was  in  the  crowd.  It  is  a  humorous  yet  pathetic  pic- 
ture Luke  gives  '  us  of  the  little  man  who  overcame  the 
handicap  of  his  stature  by  climbling  the  mulberry  tree.  How 
the  crowd  must  have  appreciated  the  joke  of  this  rich  official 
"up  a  tree!" 

And  then  Jesus  came.    He  took  in  the  situation  at  a  glance. 

74 


CONDITIONS  OF  ENTRANCE 

About  Him  a  crowd  of  the  curious,  the  sensation-loving, 
and  there  in  the  tree  the  little  man  hungry  for  friendship. 
If  there  had  been  a  touch  of  the  demagogue  about  Jesus, 
what  a  roar  of  laughter  and  applause  He  could  have  drawn 
from  the  crowd  by  some  witty  sally  about  the  unpopular 
Zaccheus!  But  instead,  with  fine  courage.  He  looked  up 
at  him  and  said,  "Zaccheus,  come  down  quickly,  for  I  must 
stay  at  your  house  to-day."  With  eager  and  joyous  haste 
the  publican  scrambles  down  and  leads  Jesus  away  to  his 
home  to  be  his  guest!  But  as  they  move  through  the  streets 
of  the  city  he  hears  the  comments  of  the  accompanying 
throng.  "Aha,"  they  are  saying,  "so  He  has  gone  in  to  be 
the  guest  of  a  notorious  sinner!  Can  you  see  the  flush  rise 
on  Zaccheus'  cheek?  And  now  they  come  to  his  home  and 
Jesus  is  about  to  enter  when,  at  the  very  threshold,  Zaccheus 
pauses,  and  half  facing  the  Lord  and  half  facing  the  crowd 
he  declares,  "Here  and  now,  Master,  I  give  half  my  prop- 
erty to  the  poor,  and  if  I  have  unjustly  exacted  money 
from  any  man,  I  pledge  myself  to  repay  to  him  four  times 
the  amount."  Turning  to  him,  Jesus  replied,  "To-day  salva- 
tion has  come  to  this  house"  (Weymouth).  These  were  the 
conditions  of  entrance  into  the  New  Order  which  Zaccheus 
and  many  of  his  kind  have  to  face. 

One  more  candidate  for  citizenship  in  the  New  Order — 
and  this  is  the  finest  type  of  all  (Mk.  10:17-22).  There 
came  running  to  Jesus  a  young  man.  He  did  not  bear  the 
marks  of  a  misspent  life  or  of  a  crooked  and  wasted  char- 
acter. He  came  rather  all  unexhausted  in  his  potentialities 
and  powers.  And  Jesus,  Mark  tells  us,  looking  upon  him, 
loved  him,  for  his  youth,  for  his  moral  rectitude,  for  his 
unsullied    physique,    for    the    clean-cut,    clear-eyed    strength 

75 


THE  WAY  OF  CHRIST 

and  purity  of  his  character.  And  this  youth  said,  "Re- 
spected Teacher,  what  is  your  rule  for  life?  I  have  learned 
and  observed  the  program  of  my  religion  but  I  am  not  satis- 
fied." And  Jesus  replied,  "You  don't  need  another  rule  or 
another  law.  You  have  had  ethical  programs  enough.  Don't 
think  of  me  just  as  a  Good  Teacher  but  cut  adrift  from 
your  wealth  and  follow  me.  Your  need  is  for  God.  Come 
with  me  and  learn  of  Him."  And  the  youth  turned  away, 
for  he  had  great  wealth. 

He  thought  his  need  was  for  another  precept,  a  shorter, 
more  satisfying  intellectual  statement.  But  Jesus  knew  that 
his  need  was  for  inner  power.  If  he  followed  Jesus  he 
must  have  been  led  where  all  the  rest  were  led,  into  the 
consciousness  of  God's  presence  in  his  life.  For  Jesus  led 
men  into  the  presence  of  God  so  that  they  could  call  Him 
Father  and  understand  his  will  and  receive  strength  to  do 
it  long  before  they  were  intellectually  able  to  explain  all 
their  experiences. 

Are  there  those  whose  need  now  is  a  like  simplicity  of 
guidance  even  in  the  face  of  unsolved  intellectual  and  ethical 
tangles?  Does  citizenship  to-day  mean  cutting  adrift  from 
entangling   hindrances   of   every   sort? 

IV.  A  Transformed  Person. 

Now  there  was  one  of  the  Pharisees  whose  name  was 
Nicodemus,  a  ruler  among  the  Jews.  He  came  to  Jesus  by 
night  and  said,  Rabbi,  we  know  that  you  are  a  teacher  come 
from  God;  for  no  one  can  do  these  miracles  which  you  are 
doing,  unless  God  is  with  him. 

In  most  solemn  truth  I  tell  you,  answered  Jesus,  that 
unless  a  man  is  born  anew  he  cannot  see  the  Kingdom  of 

76 


CONDITIONS  OF  ENTRANCE 

God.  .  .  .  How  is  all  this  possible?  asked  Nicodemus   (John 
3:1-3,   Weymouth). 

These  words  have  seemed  to  every  generation  of  Chris- 
tians through  all  the  centuries  to  be  the  most  adequate  and 
fitting  description  of  entrance  into  the  Kingdom  of  God. 
The  wonder,  the  mystery,  the  joy,  the  newness  of  physical 
birth  symbolize  the  renewal  of  life  which  citizenship  in  the 
New  Order  means.  How  is  all  this  possible?  Nicodemus 
asked,  and  Jesus  replied  that  it  could  not  be  explained  like 
a  problem  in  mathematics;  it  is  above  earthly  things  (John 
3:12).  And  yet,  think  of  these  men  we  have  been  study- 
ing, so  different  one  from  another,  the  rich  young  ruler,  the 
successful  business  man,  the  poor  weak-minded  Gerasene, 
some  fishermen  and  tradesmen,  as  widely  different  as  men 
are  to-day.  Was  it  anything  less  than  a  new  birth  for  Zach- 
cheus,  when  he  shook  off'  the  crooked  practices  of  a  business 
lifetime  and  courageously  faced  his  sneering  neighbors?  He 
had  become  a  new  man.  And  the  restored  demoniac,  was  he 
not  proving  the  birth  of  a  new  life  within  when  he  set  his 
face  back  to  the  prosaic  life  of  the  home  community?  As  for 
Zaccheus,  it  had  all  come  about  through  his  hunger  for  a 
friend  and  his  sincere  welcoming  of  Jesus  not  only  to  his 
home  but  into  the  inner  household  of  his  heart.  As  for  the 
fishermen,  the  miracle  happened  because  they  followed  Jesus. 
As  for  Paul,  he,  too,  saw  Jesus  and  confessed  Him  as  the 
leader  of  the  New  Order,  and  the  miracle  was  wrought  in 
his  life.  It  is  Paul  who  has  given  this  new  birth  its  classic 
expression :  "It  is  no  longer  I  that  live,  but  Christ  that  liveth 
in  me." 

And   so   through   all   the   centuries    as   men   have    followed 

77 


THE  WAY  OF  CHRIST 

Jesus  the  new  life  has  come  into  being.  Our  study  of  the 
varied  experiences  of  these  varied  men  will  teach  us  to 
look  for  the  new  life  in  no  stereotyped  way,  at  no  set 
times  or  seasons,  but  we  will  confidently  expect  it  wherever 
men   follow   Jesus. 

O  holy  Child  of  Bethlehem,  descend  to  us,  we  pray, 
Cast  out  our  sin  and  enter  in,  be  born  in  us  to-day. 


78 


CHAPTER  VI 

THE  IDEAL  CITIZEN 

SUGGESTIONS  FOR  PERSONAL  STUDY 

Biblical  Material. 

1.  The  ideal  citizen.     Mt.  5:1-12. 

2.  His  two-fold   responsibilities.     Mt.   5:13-16. 

3.  The  danger  of  misdirecting  his  energies.     Mt.  5  :38-48. 

I.  The  Ideal  Citizen. 

1.  Paraphrase  the  Beatitudes  (Mt.  5:1-12),  substituting  for 
the  bibHcal  phrases  modern  terms  which  express  what  you 
think  Jesus  meant. 

2.  Try  to  form  a  picture  of  a  person  embodying  all  the 
characteristics  of  the  ideal  citizen.  Would  such  a  person  be 
a  positive  or  a  negative  character?  Which  characteristics 
seem  negative?  Which  are  unquestionably  positive?  If 
certain  characteristics  seem  negative  try  thinking  of  them 
with  reference  to  the  New  Order.  For  example,  would 
mourning  at  the  triumph  of  evil  be  possible  for  a  strong 
character? 

3.  Think  again  about  the  ideal  citizen  in  the  light  of  the 
above  questions.  If  such  a  person  were  to  appear  in  your 
community  or  group  what  would  be  the  result?  What  per- 
son in  the  circle  of  your  acquaintances  is  nearest  to  this 
ideal?     Is  that  person  a  positive  or  a  negative  individual? 

79 


THE  WAY  OF  CHRIST 

II.  The    Twofold    Responsibilities    of    the    Ideal    Citizen. 

Mt.   5:13-16. 

1.  Study  these  two  figures  of  speech.  What  kind  of  a 
force  is  the  citizen  of  the  New  Order  to  be?  What  do  you 
mean  when  you  say  of  a  person,  "He's  the  salt  of  the  earth?" 

2.  In  what  sense  do  these  words  of  Jesus  constitute  a 
challenge?  In  what  sense  are  they  a  warning?  Would 
these  words  seem  to  imply  that  if  one  is  actually  a  citizen  of 
Jesus'  New  Order  he  must  "save"  and  "shine"? 

III.  Misdirected    Energies.     Mt.    5:38-48. 

1.  What  is  the  main  idea  in  these  perplexing  illustrations? 
Who  is  it  that  is  in  danger  of  being  injured  in  each  case? 

2.  As  a  matter  of  practical  experience  how  much  satisfac- 
tion have  you  had  from  any  attempts  to  avenge  insults  and 
injuries?     How  many  friends  have  you  made  in  that  way? 

3.  Is  Jesus'  teaching  here  about  misdirected  and  selfishly 
directed  energies  capable  of  a  wider  application  than  to  indi- 
viduals?    Is  it  applicable  to  nations? 

Try  to  formulate  again  your  picture  of  the  ideal  citizen 
of  the  New  Order. 


Power  attracts  every  normal  person. 

Who  has  not  felt  a  sense  of  satisfaction  as  inch  by  inch, 
foot  by  foot,  the  driving,  steady,  undaunted  force  within  the 
automobile  eats  up  a  long  steep  hill  ?  It  is  the  satisfaction  of 
power,  a  sense  of  union  and  fellow  feeling  with  the  engine, 
an  exaltation  as  from  a  personal  triumph.     Or  remember  the 

80 


THE  IDEAL  CITIZEN 

great  power  house  with  its  low,  dull  hum  of  ponderous  ma- 
chines, perfectly  adjusted,  nicely  oiled,  the  caldron  where  is 
brewed  so  much  of  the  magic  of  modern  Hfe. 

We  see  more  than  revolving  wheels  and  clever  mechanism. 
We  see  a  whole  network  of  transportation  facilities  and  tens 
of  thousands  of  gleaming  lights,  and  we  pay  our  tribute  to 
the  genius  of  the  inventor  and  the  accuracy  and  patience  and 
skill  of  the  mechanic.  But  it  is  the  great  something  which 
genius  and  skill  and  accuracy  and  patience,  cooperating,  have 
discovered  and  harnessed  that  enthralls  us.  It  is  the  power 
that  fascinates. 

Power  attracts  every  normal  person  whether  manifested  in 
a  great  waterfall,  a  mighty  locomotive  or  a  dynamic  human 
personality.  Shakespeare's  Julius  Caesar  had  his  weaknesses. 
He  was  deaf  in  one  ear,  a  poor  judge  of  character,  and  eaten 
up  with  ambition.  But  in  spite  of  all  the  defects  which  his- 
tory can  discover  or  fiction  invent,  this  man  made  his  impress 
on  the  world's  life,  and  rulers  have  delighted  in  the  titles 
Czar  and  Kaiser  because  of  the  power  of  one  Caesar. 

While  strength  and  ambition  are  ours,  we  all  share  this 
thirst  for  power.  Not  that  we  would  wield  the  influence  of 
a  Cssar,  but  that  we  would  have  an  abundant  life,  full  and 
rich.  We  are  not  content  to  think  of  ourselves  as  mere  pawns 
in  the  cosmic  game  or  cogs  in  a  great  machine.  Any  philoso- 
phy or  religion  which  would  win  our  allegiance  must  promise 
an  enlarging,  more  abundant,  more  powerful  life. 

Surely  this  is  the  characteristic  demand  which  our  age 
makes  of  Christianity.  It  must  offer  this  richer,  more  satis- 
fying, and  particularly  this  more  potent  life.  Our  query  in 
this  chapter  will  be.  What  kind  of  person  is  the  ideal  citizen 

8i 


THE  WAY  OF  CHRIST 

of  Jesus'  New  Order?"  We  must  ask  frankly  if  he  is  actually 
a  satisfying  ideal  for  us  to-day. 

I.  Our  Ideal  Citizen. 

"As  one  reads  the  Gospels  there  meet  him  two  great  words 
which  announce  the  nature  of  the  teaching.  .  .  .  The  first  is 
the  word  Power,  the  second  is  the  word  Life."*  "The  Chris- 
tian," says  the  author  of  "Ecce  Homo,"  "has  passed  from 
passive  to  active  humanity." 

Quotations  such  as  the  above  suit  our  modern  thought 
about  the  Christian.  We  like  to  think  that  there  is  nothing 
negative  about  him.  He  is  masculine  and  potent,  a  maximum 
personality,  bubbling  over  with  energy  and  enthusiasm.  He 
incorporates  all  the  most  aggressive  qualities  of  our  modern 
business  heroes.  Just  as  the  engineer  "belts  on  to  cosmic 
forces,  harnesses  his  machinery  to  the  lightnings  and  runs 
the  earth  at  the  impulse  of  the  sky  and  the  spaces,"  so  the 
Christian  has  "belted  on"  to  the  invisible  spiritual  forces  of 
our  universe  until,  as  we  put  it,  he  "does  things." 

Our  ideal  is  the  active,  positive  Christian,  a  force  in  the 
world.  The  business  of  the  Christian,  as  Dr.  Parkhurst 
once  put  it,  is  "to'  prove  to  the  world  that  people  who  sniff 
at  a  religion  that  runs  over  with  God  and  celestial  energy 
are  as  slow  and  as  far  in  the  rear  of  their  opportunities  as 
would  be  the  man  who  should  transport  freight  from  New 
York  to  Chicago  on  a  donkey  cart  or  carry  American  tourists 
to  Europe  in  a  row  boat."    Our  ideal  citizen  is  up-to-date. 

Moreover,  he  is  robustly  athletic.  No  pale-faced  ascetic 
will  satisfy  us.     He  must  have  nerves,  prompt  and  accurate 

*  Peabody :  The  Christian  Life  in  the  Modern  World,  p.  32. 

82 


THE  IDEAL  CITIZEN 

as  telegraph  instruments,  a  heart  action  which  is  reliable  and 
efficient,  lungs  which  are  sound,  muscles  ready  to  tackle  hard 
work  and  laugh  at  it.  He  will  rejoice  in  the  "game"  of 
life.  We  have  revised  our  picture  of  the  young  man  Jesus 
Christ  because  only  a  magnificent  physique  seems  the  proper 
bodying  forth  of  that  magnificent  spirit. 

Our  ideal  Christian,  then,  has  the  aggressiveness  of  a  suc- 
cessful business  man,  the  efficiency  of  an  engineer,  the  mental 
alertness  of  the  trained  thinker,  the  physique  of  an  athlete, 
the  courage,  discipline  and  endurance  of  a  soldier.  He  is  a 
composite  of  our  present-day  heroes.  There  is  something 
behind  and  beneath  all  these  characteristics,  of  course,  which 
is  the  reason  why  we  call  him  a  Christian.  But  do  we  not 
hope  that  Jesus'  ideal  citizen  will  turn  out  to  be  just  such  a 
positive,  successful,  satisfying  person  as  we  have  been  think- 
ing about? 

II.  Jesus'  Ideal  Citizen. 

Happy  the  poor  in  spirit! 
For  theirs  is  the  Kingdom  of  Heaven. 
Happy  the  meek! 
For  they  shall  inherit  the  earth. 
Happy  they  who  mourn  ! 
For  they  shall  be  comforted. 

Happy  they  who  hunger  and  thirst  for  righteousness! 
For  they  shall  be  satisfied. 
Happy  the  merciful ! 
For  they  shall  obtain  mercy. 
Happy  the  pure  in  heart ! 
For  they  shall  see  God. 
Happy  the  peacemakers  I 
For  they  shall  be  called  sons  of  God. 

83 


THE  WAY  OF  CHRIST 

Happy  they  who  have  been  persecuted  on  account  of 
righteousness ! 

For  theirs  is  the  Kingdom  of  Heaven. 

Happy  are  you  when  men  shall  denounce  you  and  persecute 
you, 

Speaking  falsely  on  account  of  me,  and  denounce  and 
persecute  and  say  all  manner  of  evil  against  you ! 

Rejoice  and  exult!     For  great  is  your  reward  in  heaven. 

For  so  they  persecuted  the  prophets  who  were  before  you. 
(Mt.  .5:3-12,  translation  from  Kent:  Life  and  Teachings  of 
Jesus,  p.  204.) 

,  We  read  these  words  with  a  sense  of  bewilderment.  Did 
Jesus  throw  open  the  doors  of  the  New  Order  to  the  poor 
in  spirit,  the  meek,  the  mournful,  the  merciful?  Are  the 
peacemaker  and  the  persecuted  his  ideal?  Involuntarily  we 
say  these  are  all  negative  qualities.  They  describe  a  good 
saint  but  not  a  good  citizen.  We  repeat  these  famous  Beati- 
tudes with  mental  reservations  because  somehow  they  fail  to 
hit  off  the  needs  of  our  life.  Can  we  set  an  ideal  like  that 
before  the  young  manhood  and  womanhood  of  our  world? 
It  seems  far  from  a  positive  picture  of  the  Christian  life. 
This  might  do  for  a  little  group  of  saints,  who  needed  the 
assurance  of  future  rewards  as  they  faced  persecution ;  our 
own  need  is  for  a  positive  program  for  this  world. 

But  before  we  turn  from  the  Beatitudes  as  a  hopelessly 
negative  portrayal  of  an  ideal  person,  we  need  to  think  more 
carefully  about  them.  In  the  first  place  we  need  to  remember 
that  the  author  of  these  words  was  no  negative  personality. 
He  set  in  motion  forces  which  have  come  sweeping  down 
through  the  centuries.  Indeed,  a  strong  case  can  be  made 
out  for  the  proposition  that  Jesus   Christ  deliberately  chose 

84 


THE  IDEAL  CITIZEN 

such  forceful  ways  for  presenting  his  claims  and  the  claims 
of  the  Kingdom  that  the  world  could  not  ignore  or  forget 
them. 

Moreover,  as  a  great  scholar  has  finely  put  it,  in  these 
Beatitudes,  "it  is  not  so  much  a  question  of  recompense  as  of 
consequence"  (Plummer).  When  Jesus  said,  Happy  the 
meek,  for  they  shall  inherit  the  earth,  He  was  not  assigning 
an  arbitrary  future  reward,  but  announcing  a  great  spiritual 
law,  namely,  that  meekness  actually  results  in  such  an  inherit- 
ance. At  any  rate,  happiness  is  declared  to  be  the  present  pos- 
session of  the  person  who  bears  these  characteristics. 

And  finally,  we  need  to  remember  that  positiveness  is  not 
the  same  thing  as  bluster.  The  most  powerful  forces  in  our 
world  move  quietly.  Let  us  think,  then,  about  this  ideal 
citizen  as  Jesus  pictures  him,  to  see  if  he  really  is  a  negative 
person. 

III.  A  Positive  or  a  Negative  Person? 

What  if  the  "poor  in  spirit"  are  not  the  physically  and 
morally  anemic,  but  those  men  and  women  who  feel  as  the 
deepest  need  of  their  lives  the  presence  and  power  of  God's 
reinforcing  spirit,  who  face  their  tasks  with  a  sense  of  utter 
dependence  upon  Him,  who  would  fain  enrich  their  own 
spiritual  poverty  from  the  exhaustless  treasuries  of  God? 
Who  were  the  people  in  the  Palestine  of  Jesus'  day  whom 
He  could  not  touch  or  influence?  Not  the  ignorant  or  the 
morally  perverted  but  the  self-sufficient,  who,  encased  in  the 
armor  of  their  spiritual  satisfaction,  were  impervious  alike  to 
the  love  and  the  power  of  the  Master.  Is  that  what  Jesus 
meant  in  the  parable  of  the  Pharisee  and  the  Publican?  Was 
the   publican   "poor   in   spirit"?     (Luke    18:9-14.) 

8S 


THE  WAY  OF  CHRIST 

What,  if  "the  meek"  are  not  the  mollycoddles,  but  those 
strong  men  and  women  who  know  that  humility  is  the  level 
where  we  must  all  stand  if  we  would  learn  and  the  garment 
we  must  all  wear  if  we  would  work.  Have  we  false  concep- 
tions of  meekness  because  of  the  people  who  have  thought  it 
could  be  gained  by  direct  assault?  who  have  said,  Go  to  now, 
I  will  be  humble?  who  have  arrived  at  a  spurious  humility 
strangely  like  pride?  Humility  is  attained  by  looking  up  and 
out,  not  in, — up  at  God's  standards  and  out  upon  humanity's 
needs. 

When  men  really  pray,  humility  is  there.  It  was  only  the 
Master  who  could  say,  "I  am  meek  and  lowly."  Paul  said, 
"I  am  the  least  of  the  apostles,"  but  he  hastened  to  add,  "I 
labored  more  abundantly  than  they  all."  That  is  the  test  of 
genuine  humility.  We  must  beware  of  the  meekness  which 
says,  "I  can  be  humble  and  lowly  but  I  can't  do  anything," 
for  meekness  is  not  an  end  but  an  atmosphere.  Let  no  one 
say,  "I  am  the  least"  unless  he  is  willing  to  add,  "Therefore 
I  will  work  twice  as  hard,"  for  the  necessity  which  humility 
imposes  is  "labors  more  abundant."  Humility  and  labors 
more  abundant  form  a  tremendous,  an  almost  irresistible 
combination. 

What  if  they  who  "mourn"  are  not  the  sad-faced,  gloomy 
pessimists  of  life,  upset  by  trivial  misfortunes  and  slight  per- 
sonal inconveniences,  but  rather  those  whose  deepest  desires 
are  to  see  the  New  Order  realized  here  and  now  and  who  are 
cut  to  the  quick  by  every  triumph  of  evil.  Is  it  right  to  say 
that  the  only  sorrow  and  grief  which  is  in  harmony  with 
God's  will  is  the  heartache  at  the  delay  in  the  coming  of  his 
Kingdom    in   which    all    suffering    and    sorrow    will    vanish? 


THE  IDEAL  CITIZEN 

Are  not  "mourners"  of  this  sort  the  only  people  who  can  be 
righteously  and  permanently  happy? 

What  if  this  ideal  citizen  is  filled  with  a  divine  discontent 
at  his  own  spiritual  attainment  (Mt,  5:4),  is  mastered  by  an 
intense  longing  for  God's  forgiveness  and  approval  (v.  6), 
becomes  the  harmony-maker  or  whole-maker  of  his  com- 
munity (v.  9)  and  persists  in  such  a  program  in  spite  of  all 
discouragements    (v.   10,   11)? 

Imagine  what  would  happen  in  your  community  if  there 
should  appear  such  an  individual,  a  true  citizen  of  the  New 
Order,  utterly  dependent  upon  God  for  strength,  hungering 
and  thirsting  for  righteousness  in  the  common  life,  cut  to  the 
quick  by  every  blasting  influence  which  threatens,  a  cham- 
pion of  wholesomeness  in  social  relationships  (v.  9),  self- 
forgetful  in  service,  pure  of  heart,  compassionate,  and  filled 
with  that  deep  and  permanent  joy  which  is  the  keynote  of  the 
New  Order.  Would  you  think  of  him  as  a  negative  person- 
ality or  the  most  powerful  and  positive  influence  in  your 
group  ? 

IV.  The  Nature  of  the  Force  Which  the  Citizen  Exerts. 

As  though  He  were  speaking  to  our  modern  perplexity  Jesus 
goes  on  to  describe  the  nature  of  the  power  which  the  ideal 
citizen  is  to  exert. 

"You  are  the  salt  of  the  earth ;  but  if  salt  has  become  taste- 
less, in  what  way  can  it.  regain  its  saltness?  It  is  no  longer 
good  for  anything  but  to  be  thrown  away  and  trodden  on  by 
the  passers  by.  You  are  the  light  of  the  world;  a  town 
cannot  be  hid  if  built  on  a  hill-top.  Nor  is  a  lamp  lighted  to 
be  put  under  a  bushel,  but  on  a  lamp-stand ;  and  then  it  gives 
light  to  all  in  the  house.     Just  so  let  your  light  shine  before 

87 


THE  WAY  OF  CHRIST 

all  men,  in  order  that  they  may  see  your  holy  lives  and  give 
glory  to  your  Father  who  is  in  Heaven."  (Mt.  5:13-16, 
Weymouth.) 

There  can  be  no  possible  mistake  here.  The  citizen  of  the 
Kingdom  is  to  be  a  positive  force.  Can  you  think  in  all  the 
world  of  forces,  of  any  two  which  are  more  humble,  less 
boisterous,  farther  removed  from  bluster,  than  salt  and  sun- 
shine? And  can  you  think  of  any  two  which  are  more  pow- 
erful, more  wholesome?  Pliny  said,  "There  is  nothing  more 
useful  than  salt  and  sunshine."  The  citizen  of  the  New 
Order  is  to  be  both. 

How  personal  Jesus  made  this  statement !  He  plainly  said, 
You  are  the  light  and  the  salt.  We  have  been  saying, 
Christianity  is  the  light  and  the  salt,  as  though  there  were 
abroad  in  the  world  a  vague,  undefined  force,  disassociated 
from  people  so  commonplace  as  Smith  and  Brown  and  Jones. 
We  thanked  God  for  our  Christian  civilization  and  Christian 
influences.  And  then  a  great  flood  of  war  engulfed  the 
world  and  we  looked  in  vain  for  Christian  civilization  and 
influence  to  assert  its  impersonal  power  and  stop  the  war. 
But  is  there  any  such  thing  as  Christianity  apart  from  per- 
sons? And  has  not  this  war  brought  to  each  of  us  a  sense 
of  shame  and  sorrow  as  we  confess  that  the  light  of  Christ 
has  been  rather  shining  upon  us  than  burning  in  us?  It  has 
been  preserving  us,  and  not  in  us  as  a  saving  power  for 
society.* 

The  positive  character  of  the  citizen  and  the  nature  of  the 
force  he  is  to  exert  are  brought  to  further  clearness  in  those 

*  Hogg :  Christ's  Message  of  the  Kingdom,  p.  4. 


THE  IDEAL  CITIZEN 

perplexing  illustrations  about  the  way  to  deal  with  personal 
insults.  Jesus  seems  to  give  no  place  for  that  hot  pride  and 
revengeful  spirit  which  flares  up  unbidden  at  the  slap  on  the 
cheek  (Mt.  5:39)  or  the  more  studied  wrong-doing  (v.  4(J) 
or  the  restriction  of  personal  liberty  (v.  41).  Can  Jesus 
have  meant  us  to  take  a  negative  attitude  toward  the  wicked- 
ness of  bad  men?  Impossible!  we  say.  His  whole  life  is  the 
answer  to  that,  for  He  did  more  to  vanquish  evil  than  any  one 
who  ever  lived. 

This  novel  method  of  dealing  with  personal  insults  must 
be,  in  Jesus'  thought,  the  strongest  way  of  fighting  evil. 
Perhaps  He  was  trying  to  direct  the  positive  efforts  of  the 
citizen  into  constructive  channels.  How  much  of  our  energy 
is  spent  in  worrying  about  whether  we  have  been  wronged  or 
insulted  or  slighted  or  ill-treated?  Is  this  a  wise  expenditure 
of  our  personal  abilities  or  would  it  be  more  effective  to 
expend  the  same  thought  and  effort  in  creating  and  liberating 
the  power  of  love  and  good  will  in  such  practical  ways  as  to 
change  the  attitude  of  our  enemies  toward  us?  Once  again 
we  must  beware  of  confusing  bluster  with  power. 

V.  Is  the  Ideal  Practicable? 

Even  though  Jesus'  ideal  citizen  of  the  New  Order  is  seen 
to  be  a  strong  and  positive  personality,  do  we  have  anything 
more  than  a  picture?  Is  this  ideal  at  all  possible  of  realiza- 
tion? 

Turn  to  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles  and  read  there  how  the 
powerful  life  began  to  show  itself  in  thfe  tradesmen  and 
fishermen  who  had  been  with  Jesus.  After  the  crucifixion 
and  the  resurrection  they  come  to  the  risen  Lord  with  a  ques- 
tion on  their  lips :  "Master,  is  this  the  time  at  which  you  are 

89 


THE  WAY  OF  CHRIST 

about  to  restore  the  kingdom  for  Israel?"  (Acts  i :  6,  Wey- 
mouth.) They  did  not  understand  even  then  that  Jesus  was 
not  concerned  with  an  outward  political  kingdom.  But  with 
the  same  patience  which  had  characterized  his  dealings  with 
them  through  the  weeks  and  months  just  past,  the  Master 
made  answer,  "It  is  not  for  you  to  know  about  these  things, 
but  if  it  is  power  you  want,  you  shall  receive  power"   (Acts 

17). 

That  promise  of  power  came  true.  The  drama  of  the  New 
Testament  is  the  proof.  The  powerful  life  was  actually  lived 
by  these  common  men.  Not  that  mediocre  intellects  became 
brilliant  or  that  obscure  men  were  advanced  to  places  of 
worldly  power,  but  they  knew  in  their  own  lives  the  mastery 
over  evil.  They  did  not  become  suddenly  perfect,  nor  were 
they  lifted  miraculously  out  of  the  realm  where  men  battle 
with  temptation,  but  the  grip  of  lust  was  loosed  and  the 
power  of  the  clean  life  was  theirs.  The  fear  of  death  was 
no  longer  a  specter  and  the  power  of  the  endless  life  was 
theirs.  The  impulse  to  service  sent  them  forth  to  tell  the 
story  of  Jesus  to  the  ends  of  the  earth,  and  the  power  of  the 
unselfish  life  was  theirs. 

These  simple  men  found  themselves  living  with  God  as  a 
Father  of  infinite  love  and  tenderness  and  with  their  fellow- 
men  as  brothers.  They  were  confident  that  the  eternal  Father 
was  in  control  of  human  history  and  that  He  could  be  trpsted 
with  their  lives.  Unique,  manifold  power  was  theirs,  because 
they  had  left  their  nets  and  their  desks  and  their  places  of 
business  to  heed*  the  call,  "Follow  me." 


9P 


CHAPTER  VII 

THE  INNER  ATTITUDE 

SUGGESTIONS  FOR  PERSONAL  STUDY 

Biblical  Material. 

The  importance  of  the  inner  attitude : 

1.  In   relation   to   people.      Mt.    5:21-26;    27-32;    7:1-5; 

18:21-35. 

2.  In  relation  to  "things."     Mt.  6:19-34. 

3.  In  relation  to   God.     Mt.  6:1.     Mt.  6:2,  3   cf.   Mk. 

14:3-9;     12:41-44.     Mt.  6:5-15    cf.    Luke    18:9-14. 
Mt.  6:16-18. 

4.  The  inner  attitude  of  the  ideal  citizen.     Mt.  6:33. 

Preliminary  Questions. 

These  two  chapters  of  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount  (Mt.  5 
and  6)  are  best  studied  as  revealing  the  inner  attitudes  of 
the  citizen  of  the  New  Order.  Jesus  is  setting  forth  the 
way  in  which  he  will  "feel"  inside  as  he  meets  various  people 
and  relates  himself  to  "things"  and  to  God.  Read  all  the 
references  listed  above  with  this  in  mind. 

I.  The  Citizen's  Attitude  Toward  Other  People. 

1.  What  do  you  think  Jesus  means  to  say  in  Mt.  5:21-26? 
Is  He  referring  to  outward  acts  or  inner  attitudes? 

2.  Is  it  possible  to  do  justice  to  a  person  in  a  single  phrase 
or  nickname?     What  are  the  dangers  of  branding  a  person 

91 


THE  WAY  OF  CHRIST 

by  a  single  cutting  phrase?     Is  contempt  a  besetting  sin  of 
youth?     Do  you  personally  have  to  fight  it? 

3.  What  do  you  think  of  the  practice  of  calling  foreigners 
by  contemptuous  nicknames  such  as  Chinks,  Dagoes,  Wops? 
May  this  have  international  consequences  ? 

4.  Read  Jesus'  searching  words  about  reverence  for  the 
person  of  another.     Mt.  5  :27ff. 

5.  List  the  practical  suggestions  Jesus  gives  in  regard  to 
strained  relations  between  individuals.  Mt.  7:1-5,  18:21-35. 
Are  any  of  these  suggestions  applicable  to  international  rela- 
tionships ? 

II.  The  Citizen's  Attitude  Toward  Things. 

1.  Read  Mt.  6:19-34  and  then  attempt  a  paraphrase  in 
your  own  words, 

2.  What  is  Jesus'  definition  of  simplicity  in  this  passage? 
Is  He  speaking  here  about  inner  attitudes  or  an  outer  pro- 
gram? What  does  it  mean  not  to  be  anxious  about  clothes 
and  food?  What  place  do  you  think  clothes  and  food  have 
in  life?     Just  why  do  you  value  them? 

III.  The  Citizen's  Attitude  Toward  God. 

1.  Read  Mt.  6:1-18  and  translate  it  into  the  corresponding 
acts  of  worship  which  make  up  your  religious  observances. 

2.  Do  the  same  temptations  which  Jesus  describes  assail 
you? 

3.  What  is  worship  for?  Does  it  mean  to  you  real  contact 
with  God?  If  not,  is  the  trouble  with  the  form  of  worship  or 
with  your  inner  attitude? 

4.  Do  you  think  there  will  be  a  new  demand  for  reality  in 

92 


THE  INNER  ATTITUDE 

acts  of  religion  after  the  war?    Is  there  such  a  demand  now? 
Are  you  awake  to  this  need? 

IV.  The  Inner  Attitude  of  the  Ideal  Citizen. 

Do  you  think  Mt.  6:33  is  an  adequate  statement  of  the 
citizen's  inner  attitude?  Put  it  in  your  own  words.  Does 
it  mean  something  positive  and  powerful  to  you? 


It  is  a  common  delusion  to  suppose  that  we  become  some- 
thing by  copying  its  characteristic  manifestations.  In  the 
old  Greek  comedy,  "The  Frogs,"  by  Aristophanes,  this  delu- 
sion is  amusingly  illustrated.  The  principal  character  is  a 
certain  Dionysus,  a  luxury-loving,  effeminate  Greek.  The 
play  gets  its  plot  from  a  dispute  as  to  the  respective  merits 
of  the  two  poets  ^schylus  and  Euripides,  both  deceased. 
To  settle  the  dispute  Dionysus  essays  a  visit  to  the  lower 
regions  in  order  to  test  the  merits  of  the  two  poets  by  weigh- 
ing their  verses  in  a  scale.  The  trip  involves  certain  dangers, 
but  Dionysus  bethinks  himself  of  a  scheme.  He  will  dis- 
guise himself  as  the  mighty  Heracles,  so  over  his  safifron 
gown  he  throws  a  lion's  skin,  and,  seizing  a  huge  club,  he 
fares  forth.  But  although  he  has  the  outer  trappings  of  the 
valiant  Heracles  it  is  the  trembling  soul  of  the  effeminate 
Dionysus  beneath  the  lion's  skin  which  is  revealed  through- 
out the  journey. 

One  does  not  become  something  simply  by  copying  its  char- 
acteristic manifestations,  any  more  than  Dionysus  became 
Heracles  by  attempting  to  hide  his  saffron  gown  and  dainty 

9^ 


THE  WAY  OF  CHRIST 

slippers  with  a  lion's  skin  and  a  mighty  club.     It  is  the  inner 
attitude  that  counts. 

One  does  not  become  an  orator  by  imitating  the  powerful 
voice  of  some  favorite  speaker,  or  a  football  player  by  don- 
ning the  latest  thing  in  moleskins,  or  a  cultured  man  by 
lining  his  shelves  with  well-bound  volumes  or  even  by  expos- 
ing himself  to  lectures.  He  must  have  the  "burning  in  his 
bones"  if  he  would  speak  so  that  men  will  listen;  he  must 
pla}',  as  Theodore  Roosevelt  once  said,  "as  though  he  carried 
an  extra  neck  in  his  pocket,"  if  he  would  win  honors  in  any 
game;  he  must  "have  that  thirst  for  knowledge  which  will 
compel  the  earth  and  the  heavens,  the  past  and  the  present 
to  yield  their  lore,  if  he  would  become  truly  cultured.  It  is 
the  inner  attitude  that  counts. 

Jesus  put  the  emphasis  here  in  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount. 
The  Sermon  on  the  Mount  is  not  so  much  a  program  of 
conduct  as  it  is  an  examination  of  the  motives  and  the  spirit 
which  lie  behind  the  things  which  the  citizen  of  the  New 
Order  undertakes  to  do.  Jesus  is  not  outlining  a  new  law 
which  He  proposes  to  substitute  for  the  Jewish  law  or  for 
any  other  system  of  conduct,  but  He  is  tracing  right  and 
wrong  to  their  beginnings  in  "the  secret  laboratory  of  the 
spirit."  These  familiar  words  are  like  coins,  long  in  circu- 
lation;  they  have  been  worn  smooth  by  much  handling.  If 
we  can  restore  the  mint  marks  their  priceless  worth  will 
again  appear. 

In  the  fifth  and  sixth  chapters  of  Matthew  Jesus  sets  forth 
the  inner  attitude  of  the  Citizen  of  the  New  Order  toward 
other  people,  toward  things  and  toward  God. 


94 


THE  INNER  ATTITUDE 

I.  The  Citizen's  Attitude  Toward  Other  People. 

A  boy  in  a  famous  preparatory  school,  when  asked  on  his 
first  day  to  write  out  why  he  had  come,  wrote,  "I  came  to 
learn  how  to  get  along  with  other  people."  In  less  than 
a  dozen  words  he  formulated  the  biggest  problem  in  our 
world.  To-day  in  blood  and  tears  men  are  seeking  its  solu- 
tion.    Had  Jesus  anything  to   say  concerning  this   problem? 

You  have  heard  that  it  was  said  by  the  men  of  old,  Thou 
shalt  not  kill,  and  whoever  kills  shall  be  liable  to  the  local 
court.     But  I  tell  you, 

Every  one  who  is  angry  with  his  brother  shall  be  liable  to 
the  local  court ; 

And  whoever  says  to  his  brother,  Ignoramus,  shall  be 
liable  to  the  Sanhedrin. 

And  whoever  says  to  his  brother,  Fool,  shall  be  liable  to 
the   Gehenna   of    Fire.      (Mt.    5:21-22,    Kent.) 

What  does  Jesus  mean  by  these  strange  words?  Does  He 
really  mean  to  say  that  if  one  calls  another  stupid  or  fool  he 
will  be  liable  to  the  supreme  court  of  the  land  or  to  God's  own 
judgment  throne.  Or  is  He  talking  about  the  inner  attitude 
of  easy  contempt  and  scorn  with  which  we  view  our  fellows? 
This  attitude  seemed  to  Him  a  grave  peril.  Unless  we  dig 
out  the  roots  of  contempt  and  scorn  from  our  lives  they 
poison  our  whole  thought  about  other  people.  How  easy  it 
is  to  get  into  the  habit  of  summing  up  the  characteristics  of 
a  person  or  a  race  in  one  facile,  unjust,  stinging  phrase. 
Will  the  citizen  of  the  new  World  Order  talk  about  "Dagoes" 
or  "Wops"  or  "Chinks"  ?  or  will  he  purge  himself  of  all  such 
personal  or  racial  superciliousness?     We  deplore  the  horrors 

95 


THE  WAY  OF  CHRIST 

of  a  world  war,  but  too  often  the  roots  of  war  are  sprouting 
in  our  own  hearts. 

Jesus  made  it  perfectly  plain  that  religious  observances  will 
not  make  up  for  this  inner  attitude  of  hate  or  scorn  (Mt. 
5:23-26). 

He  taught  that  respect  for  the  person  of  another  should 
be  so  genuine  and  fine  as  to  master  even  the  wayward  imagi- 
nations (Mt.  5:27-30).  He  Himself  won  degraded  men  and 
women  to  new  lives  by  persistently  seeing  divine  possibilities 
within  them. 

Jesus  laid  great  emphasis  upon  the  inner  attitude  of  the 
citizen  toward  any  one  who  has  wronged  him.  He  suggested 
that  the  first  thing  to  do  is  to  go  to  the  individual  in  person 
and  try  to  make  things  right.  "Now  if  thy  brother  sin,  go 
show  him  his  fault  between  thee  and  him  alone"  (Mt.  18:15). 
He  knew  how  resentment  feeds  on  suspicion  and  waxes  fat  on 
secret  broodings.  Then  He  counseled  an  attitude  of  for- 
giveness which  loses  all  track  of  the  number  of  offenses 
(Mt.  18:21).  Can  any  one  really  forgive  an  offender  if  he  is 
saying,  "This  makes  the  third  time  or  the  sixth  time  I've  for- 
given him;  one  more  offense  and  I'll  have  revenge"? 

In  order  that  this  obligation  to  forgive  indefinitely  might  be 
rightly  comprehended,  Jesus  told  the  story  of  the  servant 
who  was  forgiven  a  debt  of  twenty  million  dollars  and  then 
refused  to  forgive  his  fellow  servant  a  debt  of  twenty  dollars 
(Mt.  18:23-25).  Or  again,  Jesus  says  it  is  like  a  man  who 
has  a  beam  in  his  own  eye  and  wants  to  take  a  splinter  out 
of  his  brother's  eye  (Mt.  7:3-5)-  We  have  great  need  to  be 
charitable  and  forgiving  if  that  is  to  be  the  basis  of  our  rela- 
tionship to  God  (Mt.  6:12,  14,  15). 

We  are  then  to  beware  of  an  inner  attitude  of  contempt 

96 


THE  INNER  ATTITUDE 

and  scorn,  we  are  to  reverence  and  respect  the  person  of 
another,  and  to  be  quick  to  forgive  a  real  or  a  fancied  wrong. 
Jesus  had  more  to  say  about  our  relations  to  other  people. 
His  great  positive  teaching  of  the  inner  attitude  of  love 
stands  at  the  center  of  all  his  words  and  deserves  a  special 
chapter  for  its  treatment. 

II.  The  Citizen's  Attitude   Toward  "Things." 

Jesus  dealt  very  specifically  with  the  citizen's  attitude 
toward  concrete  "things,"  such  as  money,  food  and  clothing 
(Mt.  6:19-34).  His  words  seem  very  simple  and  straightfor- 
ward, yet  the  Christian  Church  has  always  found  it  difficult 
to  understand  and  apply  them. 

Christians  have  felt  that  Jesus  meant  his  followers  to  have 
an  "unworldly  attitude  toward  things."  But  the  word  "un- 
worldly" needs  careful  definition.  What  is  worldlincss?  We 
have  been  inclined  to  say  it  is  putting  too  high  a  value  upon 
the  things  of  this  world,  and  we  have  been  warned  against 
this  temptation.  But  that  is  exactly  wrong,  according  to 
these  great  words  of  Jesus.  Worldliness  is  putting  too  low 
a  value  upon  things.  It  is  assigning  them  only  a  temporal 
value.  The  citizen  of  the  New  Order  places  an  infinitely 
higher  value  upon  money  and  food  and  clothes  and  things  in 
general  than  does  the  citizen  of  any  temporal  order.  For  he 
views  all  "things"  with  an  eye  to  their  eternal  value.  That 
seems  to  be  the  sole  point  Jesus  is  making  in  the  parable  of 
the  unrighteous  steward,  who  shrewdly  used  his  position  in 
order  to  make  friends  (Luke  16:1-13,  esp.  v.  9).  World- 
liness is  hampered  in  two  directions.  It  has  a  limited  horizon 
and  so  only  knows  how  to  "lay  up  treasure  on  earth  where 
moth  and  rust  consume,  and  where  thieves  break  through  and 

97 


THE  WAY  OF  CHRIST 

steal."  And  then  it  is  hampered  by  anxiety  as  to  food  and 
raiment  and  things  in  general  (cf.  Mt.  6:  v.  25,  2y,  28,  31,  34). 
The  citizen  of  the  New  Order,  on  the  other  hand,  values  all 
"things"  as  they  contribute  to  the  lasting  rule  of  God  on 
earth. 

It  has  been  said  that  the  attitude  of  the  citizen  toward 
"things"  may  be  described  by  the  word  simplicity.  But  again 
we  need  to  think  carefully  about  the  meaning  of  simplicity. 
We  are  learning  on  a  large  scale  these  days  to  say  after 
Socrates,  "How  many  things  there  are  I  do  not  need!"  Men 
who  go  to  the  trenches  and  folk  who  stay  at  home  are  dis- 
pensing with  numerous  "things"  only  to  find  themselves  just 
as  happy  and  healthy  and  fit  as  before,  and  usually  more  so. 
It  seems  a  good  time  to  think  about  Jesus'  words  concerning 
simplicity. 

What  constitutes  the  simple  life?  Can  we  decide  by 
enumerating  the  number  of  things  we  should  have?  That 
way  many  difficulties  lie  in  wait.  Practically  every  one  can 
say,  I  live  more  simply  than  such  and  such  a  person.  And 
is  it  all  a  matter  of  the  number  of  things  we  have?  Compare 
a  country  four-corners  store  with  a  big  city  department  store. 
The  one  occupies  a  dingy  frame  building  at  the  cross  roads ; 
the  other  a  skyscraper  which  covers  a  city  block.  The  pro- 
prietor of  the  one  is  at  once  manager,  floor-walker,  clerk, 
cashier,  bookkeeper,  parcel  girl,  delivery  boy,  and  scrub 
woman;  the  other  has  its  thousands  of  employees,  each  doing 
a  specialized  piece  of  work.  The  one  has  a  single  depart- 
ment; the  other  hundreds  of  departments.  In  the  country 
store  there  is  leisure  and  calm,  in  the  city  store  bustle  and 
rush  and  roar.     Yet  which  way  lies  simplicity?     Your  busi- 

98 


THE  INNER  ATTITUDE 

ness  man  will  answer,  in  the  direction  of  the  city  store,  for 
the  business  synonym  for  simplicity  is  system. 

Or  think  of  the  finely  trained  symphony  orchestra  with  its 
hundred  musicians  playing  strings  and  wood-winds  and  brasses 
and  drums,  attempting  intricate  scores  of  music.  Compare 
with  the  symphony  orchestra  the  town  brass  band  composed 
of  the  dozen  or  so  musically  ambitious  men  who  meet  Satur- 
day nights  in  the  village  band  stand.  Does  simplicity  lie  in 
the  direction  of  the  town  band?  No,  for  simplicity  in  music 
means  harmony.  Contrast  a  German  army  corps  with  ten 
boys  in  a  street  fight.  The  German  army  corps  is  far  simpler, 
because  each  boy  is  a  field  marshal,  and  discipline  is  sim- 
plicity in  warfare. 

Think  of  the  most  active  man  or  woman  you  know,  promi- 
nent in  business,  in  society,  in  philanthropy,  in  religion,  in 
politics,  in  aesthetics,  and  withal  a  lover  of  home.  Now  con- 
trast the  person  of  the  narrowest  interests.  Is  the  latter 
necessarily  an  example  of  simpHcity  and  the  former  of  com- 
plexity of  life?     Or  is  it  the  inner  attitude  that  counts^ 

What  was  Jesus'  attitude?  He  lived  in  the  full  round  of 
the  world's  activities.  He  was  a  toiler,  a  teacher,  a  welcome 
guest  at  festivities,  a  man  whom  the  common  people  heard 
gladly.  He  was  no  recluse.  He  seems  not  to  have  unneces- 
sarily stripped  himself  of  the  things  that  make  life  enjoyable. 
There  is  almost  a  plaintive  note  in  his  declaration  that  the 
birds  have  nests  and  the  foxes  holes,  but  the  Son  of  man 
does  not  have  a  place  to  lay  his  head.  He  shared  the  com- 
fortable home  of  Lazarus  and  Mary  and  Martha  with  a  gen- 
uine delight.  Never  once  did  He  state  a  general  rule  as  to 
the  number  of  things  a  person  must  have  in  order  to  be  a 
member  of  the  Kingdom.     The  Rich  Young  Ruler  had  too 

99 


THE  WAY  OF  CHRIST 

many  possessions,  but  it  seems  to  have  been  his  inner  atti- 
tude toward  them  that  hampered  him  (Mt.  19:22). 

Jesus  traced  simpHcity  to  the  attitude  of  the  soul.  It  is 
conflicting  desires  that  cause  complexity  of  life.  It  doesn't 
matter  in  the  least  how  complex  the  life  in  which  we  are 
called  to  live  if  our  own  inner  attitude  is  clear  and  consistent. 
In  this  great  passage  (Mt.  6:19-34)  Jesus  sets  forth  four 
rules  tcr  simplicity  bi  soul :  first,  a  single  set  of  values  and 
that  the  highest  (v.  19-21)  ;  second,  a  singleness  of  vision 
(v.  22,  23)  ;  third,  a  single  master  (v.  24)  ;  fourth,  a  single 
anxiety    (v.   25-34  esp.   v.   33). 

III.  The  Citizen's  Attitude  Toward  God.     Mt.  6:1-18. 

There  were  three  conventional  forms  of  worship  current 
in  Jesus'  day;  almsgiving,  prayer,  and  fasting.  He  did  not 
condemn  any  one  of  these  forms.  He  simply  traced  each  act 
of  worship  to  its  underlying  motive  and  judged  it  by  its 
fruits.  The  object  of  worship  is  to  bring  the  worshiper  into 
living  touch  with  God.  Jesus  seems  to  ask,  "Do  your  acts  of 
worship  accomplish  that  end?  Or  is  that  the  real  object 
you  have  in  view?"  The  Pharisees'  goal,  "to  be  seen  of 
men,"  was  easy  of  attainment,  and  when  they  had  accom- 
plished that  object  they  were  "paid  in  full."  They  could 
expect  nothing  more. 

Almsgiving  (Mt.  6:2-4)  was  the  only  outlet  for  general 
philanthropy  in  Jesus'  day.  What  He  said  about  almsgiving 
applies,  then,  to  all  the  varied  opportunities  for  relief  and 
service  which  our  needy  world  offers.  Do  we  think  of  our 
giving  as  an  act  of  worship?  What  is  the  inner  motive  that 
prompts  us?  Few  are  tempted  to  repeat  the  brass  band 
giving   of   the   hypocrites    (Mt.    6:2)    in    literalistic    fashion, 

100 


1 


THE  INNER  ATTITUDE 

but  how  complex  our  motives  often  are !  Jesus  was  remark- 
ably quick  to  sense  the  relation  of  the  giver  to  the  gift.  He 
knew  when  it  came  from  a  genuine  fellowship  with  God 
(Mk.  12:41-44;  14:6-9),  and  his  appreciation  of  that  sort  of 
giving  was  warm  and  glad. 

The  gospels  show  that  Jesus  prayed  more  than  He  talked 
about  prayer.  It  was  the  evident  contrast  between  his  prayer 
life  and  the  display  of  religiosity  which  passed  for  prayer  in 
synagogues  and  on  street  corners  (Mt.  6:5)  which  challenged 
his  disciples  (Luke  11  :i).  And  He  pointed  out  the  differ- 
ence. It  was  a  difference  in  inner  attitude.  First  of  all,  in 
the  case  of  the  hypocrites,  prayer  was  a  matter  of  self-con- 
sciousness, and  self-consciousness  is  always  weakness.  But 
for  Jesus,  prayer  was  a  forgetting  of  self  and  a  consciousness 
of  God,  "Our  Father  who  art  in  heaven."  It  is  by  looking 
away  from  ourselves  and  beholding  God  that  we  are  changed 
from  the  old  self. 

Then,  prayer  for  the  hypocrites  was  a  kind  of  service  they 
rendered  God,  and  repetitions  increased  the  merit  (Mt.  6:7). 
That,  said  Jesus,  is  nothing  but  paganism  (Mt,  6:7),  and 
He  made  clear  in  the  classic  parable  of  the  Pharisee  and  the 
Publican  what  real  prayer  means  (Luke  18:9-14).  The 
Pharisee  simply  congratulated  God  upon  the  excellencies  of 
his  workmanship  in  his  particular  case. 

"But  the  tax-gatherer,  standing  far  back,  would  not  so  much 
as  lift  his  eyes  to  Heaven,  but  kept  beating  his  breast  and 
saying,  O  God,  be  reconciled  to  me,  sinner  that  I  am" 
(Weymouth). 

Prayer,  Jesus  said,  was  to  be  brief  and  direct  (Mt.  6:y,  8), 
persistent   (Luke   11:5-8,   18:1-8),  founded  upon  faith    (Luke 

lOI 


THE  IV AY  OF  CHRIST 

17:5,  6,  Mk.  11:22-24),  and  prefaced  with  a  right  relationship 
with  fellowmen  (Mk.  11:25). 

The  model  prayer  He  gave  his  disciples  (Mt.  6:9-13)  was 
also  surcharged  with  social  sympathy.  The  individual  is 
bound  by  each  petition  to  his  fellows.  It  is  our  Father  to 
whom  we  pray,  his  Kingdom  of  men  living  as  brothers  for 
which  we  pray,  and  we  may  not  ask  for  my  but  only  for  our 
daily  bread.  There  is  need  for  individual  forgiveness,  but 
the  basis  is  "as  we  also  have  forgiven  our  debtors." 

Jesus'  words  about  fasting  (Mt.  6:16-18)  seem  to  have 
least  to  do  with  our  modern  life.  Yet  if  we  apply  them  to 
all  forms  of  self-discipline  they  still  convey  a  living  message. 
One  of  the  subtlest  of  temptations  is  to  discipline  oneself  for 
some  good  end  and  then  brag  of  the  performance.  Ob- 
viously that  has  nothing  to  do  with  worship  of  God.  Only 
those  forms  of  self -discipline,  and  that  attitude  toward  them, 
which  lead  to  real,  vital,  and  constant  touch  with  the  Father 
are  commended  by  Jesus. 

"Beware  of  doing  your  good  actions  in  the  sight  of  men, 
in  order  to  attract  their  gaze;  if  you  do,  there  is  no  reward 
for  you  with  your  Father  who  is  in  Heaven"  (Mt.  6:1,  Wey- 
mouth). All  acts  of  worship,  however  involved  or  simple, 
are  liable  to  the  same  criticism.  It  is  the  inner  attitude  that  ' 
counts. 

IV.  The  Inner  Attitude  of  the  Ideal  Citizen.     Mt.  6:33. 

"Seek  ye  first  his  Kingdom  and  his  righteousness."  These 
words  summarize  the  inner  attitude  of  the  citizen  toward 
other  people,  toward  "things"  and  toward  God.  All  matters 
of  form  and  ceremony  are  swept  away  by  it.  His  inner  atti- 
tude is  to  be  a  search  which  will  call  for  the  same  wisdom 

102 


THE  INNER  ATTITUDE 

and  practical  preparation  and  endurance  which  men  devote 
to  the  quest  of  the  North  Pole,  and  the  same  zeal  with  which 
men  dig  for  hidden  treasure.  This  search  will  be  the  con- 
suming passion  of  the  citizen's  life.  It  will  be  first  for  him. 
It  will  be  a  search  for  the  things  that  are  right  from  the  top 
to  the  bottom  of  life.  He  will  not  rest  until  he  lives  in  right 
relationship  to  other  people  and  to  "things"  and  to  God. 
He  will  not  rest  until  God's  New  Order  is  established  on  this 
earth. 

The  fires  of  war  have  burned  away  much  that  is  cheap  and 
superficial  in  our  common  life.  Have  we  felt  stirring  within 
us  the  passion  for  a  Kingdom  that  cannot  be  shaken  and  for 
realities  which  will  endure? 

The  reconstruction  of  the  world  must  begin  by  the  recon- 
struction of  our  inner  attitude  toward  people  and  "things" 
and  God. 


103 


CHAPTER  VIII 
THE  LAW  OF  LOVE 

SUGGESTIONS  FOR  PERSONAL  STUDY 

Biblical  Material. 

1.  Love  as  the  first  law.  Luke  10:25-28;  cf.  Mk.  12:28-31; 
cf.  Mt.  22:35-40. 

2.  Misinterpretation. 

a.  Simply    applicable    to    a    congenial    neighbor.      Luke 

10 :29-37  ;  Mt.  5  :43-47 ;  cf .  Luke  6 :27,  32-35. 

b.  Love  to  neighbors :  sentiment  ?     Mt.  23. 

c.  Love  to  neighbors:   charity?     Mt.     6:2-4. 

3.  Its  real  meaning. 

a.  A  matter  of  the  heart  and  life.     Mk.  12:32-34. 

b.  A  practical  test.     Mt.  7:12  cf.    Luke  6:31. 

It  becomes  very  difficult  to  select  from  the  gospels  passages 
about  love.  Jesus  did  not  define  it  any  more  than  He  defined 
the  Kingdom  of  God.  He  was  the  embodiment  of  love  and 
was  in  Himself  the  only  satisfactory  definition  we  know. 

Only  on  a  few  occasions  did  He  deal  with  the  definition  of 
love  specifically,  and  then  He  accepted  the  Old  Testament 
statement  about  it.  He  did,  however,  guard  against  certain 
misinterpretations  of  love,  such  as  that  it  could  hardly  be 
applied  to  those  of  another  race  or  religion  (Luke  10:25-37) 
or  to  enemies  (Mt.  5:43-47)  or  that  it  was  equivalent  to  occa- 
sional charity  (Mt.  6:2-4).  When  we  think  about  love  we 
have  to  bear  in  mind,  then,  the  whole  course  of  his  life. 

104 


THE  LAW  OF  LOVE 

I.  Review  briefly  the  chapters  on  Tlie  Ideal  Citizen  and  The 
Inner  Attitude.  Love  is  the  key  to  all  Jesus  said  about  the 
character  of  the  citizen  of  the  New  Order. 

II.  Is  there  any  danger  to-day  of  misinterpreting  the  word 
neighbor?  Are  you  tempted  to  limit  it  to  people  of  like 
tastes,  of  like  religion,  of  like  race,  of  like  nationality?  Did 
Jesus  limit  it  at  all?    Has  the  Christian  any  right  to  limit  it? 

III.  Is  love  the  same  thing  as  sentiment?  Read  Mt.  23.  Is 
it  possible  to  love  people  for  whom  you  feel  no  emotion  of 
affection?  Is  love  something  you  can  will  to  do?  How 
would  you  express  a  love  which  is  without  sentiment?  When 
you  do  some  act  of  genuine  service  for  another  does  real 
affection  sometimes  result? 

IV.  How  is  it  possible  to  reconcile  personal  ambition  and 
love  for  one's  neighbor?  Does  it  depend  upon  the  goal  set 
before  the  individual?  Is  it  possible  to  adopt  life  aims  which 
will  at  the  same  time  call  for  the  highest  personal  develop- 
ment and  genuine  service  for,  and  love  of,  one's  neighbor? 

V.  What  do  you  think  of  "brotherhood"  as  a  modern 
synonym  for  love?  Does  it  include  the  same  ideas?  Does  it 
avoid  the  common  misinterpretations  of  love?  Is  it  subject 
to  the  same  dangers  as  neighborliness? 

VI.  What  do  you  think  Christ's  law  of  love  means  in  terms 
of  business  life,  international  relations?  Can  a  young  man 
or  woman  start  to-day  to  live  a  life  upon  that  principle  of  love 
to  neighbor  and  succeed? 


A   certain   lawyer   once   asked   Jesus   this   question,    "What 
shall   I   do   to   inherit   eternal   life?"     Jesus   drew    from   him 

105 


THE  WAY  OF  CHRIST 

an  answer  to  his  own  query:  "Thou  shalt  love  the  Lord  thy 
God  with  all  thy  heart,  and  with  all  thy  soul  and  with  all  thy 
strength  and  with  all  thy  mind ;  and  thy  neighbor  as  thyself" 
(Deut.  6:5;  Lev.  19:18).  "A  right  answer,"  said  Jesus,  "do 
that,  and  you  shall  live"  (Luke  10:27-28). 

"And  thy  neighbor  as  thyself."  These  words  Jesus  drew 
from  the  lawyer.  The  lawyer  quoted  them  from  the  Old 
Testament.  They  are  perfectly  orthodox  words  and  not  in 
the  least  sensational.  And  yet  we  probably  are  agreed  that 
love  of  neighbor  is  the  central  teaching  of  Jesus.  The  sensa- 
tional thing  about  his  law  of  love  was  that  He  actually  put 
it  into  practice  in  his  own  life  and  summoned  his  disciples 
to  a  like  endeavor.  It  has  always  been  orthodox  to  believe 
in  loving  one's  neighbor  but  it  has  always  been  startling  when 
people  have  really  tried  to  do  it.  And  as  a  matter  of  fact  It 
is  the  one  part  of  Jesus'  program  which  the  world  has  never 
accepted,  although  they  are  ready  to  accept  much  of  the  doc- 
trine and  paraphernalia  of  institutional  Christianity. 

Since  the  world  has  been  so  slow  about  accepting  Jesus' 
law  of  love,  we  are  forced  to  ask,  Is  it  reasonable?  Will  it 
work?  Is  it  practicable  in  our  kind  of  a  world,  people  being  as 
they  are?  Ought  we  really  to  try  to  love  our  neighbor  as  our- 
selves? These  questions  give  rise  to  at  least  three  others. 
Who  is  our  neighbor?  What  is  love?  When  is  love  to  be 
applied  to  a  neighbor?  We  need  to  clear  away  certain  mis- 
interpretations and  misapplications  of  Jesus'  thought  here, 
for  it  has  sometimes  happened  that  many  who  are  outwardly 
his  followers  have  never  understood  his  program  of  love  to 
one's  neighbor,  while  some  have  lived  out  that  program  even 
though  alienated  from  his  professed  disciples. 

106 


THE  LAW  OP  LOVE 

I.  Jesus*  Program  of  Love  is  Bigger  than  Neighborliness. 

What  does  it  mean  to  love  one's  neighbor?  The  obvious 
answer  is  neighborhness,  that  genial  good-natured  relation 
with  friends  and  acquaintances  whose  back  yards  are  next  our 
own.  Love  to  neighbor  means  that,  surely.  If  we  cannot 
live  on  terms  of  positive  good  will  and  serviceableness  with 
those  with  whom  we  have  most  frequent  dealings,  the  law  of 
love  condemns  us,  and  we  must  suffer  the  consequences  of  its 
inexorable  working,  in  the  bitterness  and  petty  enmity  of 
neighborhood  quarrels.  Perhaps  it  is  as  difficuU  to  live  out 
the  law  of  love  with  one's  neighbors  as  anywhere  in  all  the 
world  of  human  relationships. 

But  Jesus  evidently  meant  something  more  sweeping  than 
amicable  dooryard  diplomacy.  The  Pharisees  had  gone  that 
far.  Let  them  choose  their  neighbors  and  they  could  be 
neighborly.  Even  the  lawyer  was  ready  to  love  his  neighbor 
if  he  was  the  right  sort.  If  Jesus  meant  only  that,  then  it 
might  be  possible  to  be  genuinely  Christian  by  a  judicious 
selection  of  neighbors.  But  we  congratulate  ourselves  upon 
our  ability  to  see  beyond  such  a  narrow  application  of  love. 
Jesus  extended  infinitely  the  limits  of  the  word  neighbor. 
No  cliques  or  groups  or  class  or  social  order  or  religious  or 
political  sect  could  claim  Him  while  He  walked  the  hills 
and  dales  of  Palestine.  He  called  every  man  in  need  his 
neighbor,  and  his  disciples  to-day  will  be  no  narrower. 

II.  Love  versus  Sentiment. 

A  second  misinterpretation  of  love  of  neighbor  has  to  do 
with  the  meaning  of  love.  There  are  people  who  understand 
full  well  what  Jesus  meant  by  neighbor,  who  think  that  love 

107 


THE  WAY  OF  CHRIST 

as  Jesus  used  the  word  is  the  synonym  of  sentiment.  To 
such  people  love  of  neighbor  means  an  affectionate  reaction 
to  every  one  whom  they  chance  to  meet.  If  the  sensation 
does  not  appear  they  think  they  have  suffered  a  relapse  in 
their  Christianity. 

But  such  a  sentimental  attitude  toward  the  world  is  not 
what  Jesus  meant  by  love.  He  who  undertakes  to  interpret 
love  as  such  a  sickly  sentiment  will  meet  with  one  of  two 
results.  If  he  undertakes  it  honestly  he  will  give  the  whole 
thing  up  as  an  impossible,  foolish  and  impracticable  dream. 
People  will  take  advantage  of  his  innocence  and  he  will  decide 
that  after  all  it's  a  cold,  hard  world  and  every  man  must  look 
out  for  himself.  On  the  other  hand,  if  he  does  not  undertake 
this  program  of  love  in  dead  earnest  he  will  soon  be  contin- 
ually simulating  an  affection  he  does  not  actually  feel. 

If  ever  any  one  loved  his  neighbor  genuinely,  Jesus  did. 
But  He  did  not  react  sentimentally  to  every  one  He  chanced 
to  meet.  Read  again  the  terrible  woes  recorded  in  Matthew 
23 :  "Alas  for  you,  Scribes  and  Pharisees,  hypocrites,  .  .  . 
you  blind  guides,  straining  out  the  gnat  while  you  gulp  down 
the  camel.  Alas  for  you,  Scribes  and  Pharisees,  hypocrites, 
for  you  wash  clean  the  outside  of  the  cup  or  dish,  while 
within  they  are  full  of  greed  and  self-indulgence.  Alas  for 
you,  Scribes  and  Pharisees,  hypocrites,  for  you  are  just  like 
white-washed  sepulchers,  full  of  dead  men's  bones.  O  ser- 
pents, O  vipers'  brood,  how  are  you  to  escape  condemnation 
to  Gehenna?"     (Weymouth.) 

It  is  not  that  the  world  does  not  need  more  human  kindness 
and  tenderness  and  sympathy — is  there  anything  our  world 
needs  so  much?  But  the  love  of  Christ  finds  its  source  much 
deeper  than  any  mere  surface  sentiment.     The  love  Jesus  ex- 

108 


THE  LAW  OF  LOVE 

emplified  was  a  moral  quality,  subject  to  the  will,  not  to  the 
caprice  of  moods  and  emotions.  It  was  something  that  func- 
tioned even  toward  disagreeable  and  unpleasant  people,  and 
one  cannot  love  a  disagreeable  individual  or  a  disagreeable 
nation  unless  love  has  claimed  more  than  his  fickle  emotions. 
It  must  have  captured  his  intellect  and  his  will.  As  followers 
of  Jesus  Christ,  as  those  who  draw  inspiration  from  the 
lives  of  the  disciples,  we  are  .challenged  to  redeem  the  word 
love  from  its  flabby  associations. 

III.  The  Law  of  Love  Not  Emergency  Legislation. 

Most  of  us  have  seen  deeper  than  either  of  these  surface 
interpretations  of  love  to  neighbor.  We  do  not  think  Jesus 
meant  by  neighbor  only  those  whose  back  yards  touch  our 
own.  Nor  do  we  think  that  love  is  equivalent  to  sentiment. 
But  we  have  been  guilty  of  thinking  of  the  great  law  of  love 
as  a  sort  of  emergency  legislation  rather  than  as  the  law  of 
life.  Have  we  missed  the  point  of  the  parable  of  the  Good 
Samaritan?  The  parable  of  the  Good  Samaritan  is  a  vivid, 
telling  picture  drawn  from  life.  Jesus  tells  the  story  in 
answer  to  the  lawyer's  question,  "But  what  is  meant  by  my 
neighbor?"     He  replies: 

A  man  was  once  on  his  way  down  from  Jerusalem  to 
Jericho  when  he  fell  among  robbers,  who  after  both  strip- 
ping and  beating  him  went  away,  leaving  him  half  dead. 
Now  a  priest  happened  to  be  going  down  that  way,  and  on 
seeing  him,  passed  by  on  the  other  side.  In  like  manner  a 
Levite  also  came  to  the  place,  and  seeing  him,  passed  by  on 
the  other  side.  But  a  certain  Samaritan,  being  on  a  journey, 
came  where  he  lay,  and  seeing  him,  was  moved  with  pity. 
He  went  to  him,  dressed  his  wounds  with  oil  and  wine,  and 

109 


THE  WAY  OF  CHRIST 

bound  them  up.  Then  placing  him  on  his  own  mule,  he 
brought  him  to  an  inn,  where  he  bestowed  every  care  on 
him.  The  next  day  he  took  out  two  shilhngs  and  gave  them 
to  the  innkeeper. 

Take  care  of  him,  he  said,  and  whatever  further  expense 
you  are  put  to,  I  will  repay  you  on  my  next  visit. 

Which  of  those  three  seems  to  have  acted  like  a  fellow 
man  to  him  who  fell  among  the  robbers? 

The  one  who  showed  pity,  he  replied. 

Go,  said  Jesus,  and  act  in  the  same  way.  (Luke  10:30-37, 
Weymouth.) 

Of  course  the  point  of  this  classic  story  is  that  the  Samari- 
tan's friendly,  loving  act  was  directed  toward  a  member  of 
a  hostile  race,  while  a  priest  and  a  Levite,  fellow  countrymen 
and  co-religionists  of  the  poor  man,  had  already  "passed  by  on 
the  other  side  of  the  road."  The  lawyer's  question,  "Who 
is  my  neighbor?"  was  answered  in  full.  If  a  despised  Samari- 
tan stepping  across  the  racial  line  to  help  a  Jew  in  distress, 
especially  after  that  Jew  had  been  abandoned  to  his  fate  by 
proud  representatives  of  his  own  religion,  is  to  be  thought 
of  as  a  concrete  definition  of  brotherly  love,  doubtless  the 
lawyer  needed  to  revise  his  definition  of  neighbor.  Now  the 
lawyer  had  been  forced  to  admit  that  the  Samaritan  was  the 
real  neighbor  in  this  case,  so  there  was  no  chance  for  him 
to  squirm  out  of  his  tight  situation. 

But  we  have  looked  at  this  parable  too  often  as  though  the 
lawyer's  question  were,  "How  shall  I  love  my  neighbor?" 
And  then  we  have  taken  Jesus'  answer  as  a  full  and  final 
definition  of  love:  "Pick  up  the  wounded  and  beaten  man 
along  the  track  of  life,  bathe  his  wounds,  take  care  of  him." 
That  is  to  say,  love  finds  its  place  of  action  by  the  roadside 

no  • 


THE  LAW  OF  LOVE 

of  life.  It  is  an  occasional  thing.  It  is  not  to  be  thought  of 
as  the  main  business  of  life,  but  rather  something  to  be  ex- 
pressed outside  of  business  hours  or  incidentally.  There  are, 
to  be  sure,  plenty  of  robbed  and  beaten  men  who  need  to  be 
picked  up  and  cared  for,  and  love  of  neighbor  will  always 
find  abundant  opportunity  for  expression  in  the  work  of 
rescue.  But  the  law  of  love  is  more  than  emergency  legis- 
lation.    It  is  meant  to  apply  to  all  life. 

As  we  think  about  our  world  to-day,  does  it  not  seem  as 
though  Jesus'  teaching  of  love  to  neighbor  had  been  ac- 
cepted only  as  emergency  legislation?  On  the  battlefields  of 
Europe  men  are  being  "beaten  and  left  for  dead."  The  Red 
Cross  Samaritan  does  not  pass  by  on  the  other  side,  but 
comes  to  the  injured  man,  picks  him  up,  bathes  his  wounds, 
pouring  on  oil  and  wine  more  scientifically  and  successfully 
than  the  original  Samaritan  knew  how  to  do.  It  is  a  beauti- 
ful and  effective  expression  of  the  love  which  Jesus  taught. 
But  Christian  nations  are  still  shooting  the  men  down  and 
will  continue  to  do  so  until  the  end  of  time  unless  we  learn 
that  Jesus  meant  love  to  be  something  more  than  emergency 
legislation. 

IV.  Love  as  the  Law  of  Life. 

The  love  Christ  taught  is  neither  narrow,  superficial  nor 
occasional.  He  set  forth  love  as  the  law  of  life.  It  is  in- 
deed the  whole  law  of  life.  Upon  one  occasion  the  Phari- 
sees asked  him  as  a  test  question,  "Teacher,  which  is  the 
greatest  commandment  in  the  Law?"  He  replied  in  the  words 
of  the  Old  Testament,  "Love  God  with  your  entire  person- 
ality and  your  neighbor  as  yourself."  The  whole  of  the 
Law   and   the   Prophets   is    summed   up    in   these   two    com- 

III 


THE  WAY  OF  CHRIST 

mandments  (Mt.  22:34-40).  According  to  Mark's  record 
(12:28-34)  one  of  the  scribes  commended  this  answer  and 
Jesuc  turned  to  him  and  said,  "You  are  not  far  from  the 
Kingdom  of  God.'' 

The  other  New  Testament  writers  understood  the  funda- 
mental character  of  Jesus'  teaching  at  this  point.  Paul  in 
his  letter  to  the  Roman  Christians  tells  them  that  "He  who 
loves  his  neighbor  has  fulfilled  the  law"  (Romans  13:8-10). 
And  in  a  letter  to  the  Galatian  Christians  he  writes,  "The 
whole  law  is  fulfilled  in  one  word,  even  in  this,  Thou  shalt 
love  thy  neighbor  as  thyself"  (Galatians  5:14).  And  James 
writes,  'Tf  you  fulfill  the  royal  law  according  to  the  scriptures, 
thou  shalt  love  thy  neighbor  as  thyself,  you  do  well"  (James 
2:8).  Neither  of  these  writers  treats  love  as  a  matter  of 
impulse  and  emotion,  but  as  a  matter  of  will.  It  is  com- 
manded of  the  Christians.  They  look  upon  it  as  a  reasonable 
commandment.  Love  is  that  principle  under  the  power  and 
guidance  of  which  we  are  to  live  our  lives.  This  love  to 
neighbor  is  an  inner  attitude  which  will  find  expression  in 
forgiveness  (Mt.  18:15,  21,  22),  in  a  unique  way  of  dealing 
with  aggressors  (Mt.  5:38-48),  in  charitable  judgments  of 
others  (Mt.  7:1-5),  and  in  reverence  and  respect  for  the  per- 
son of  another   (Mt.  5:21-28). 

Jesus  did  not  give  any  formal  definition  of  love.  It  was 
not  his  custom  to  give  formal  definitions.  He  showed  what 
love  is  in  essence  and  practice  by  a  series  of  dramatic  illus- 
trations, such  as  the  story  of  the  Good  Samaritan  (Luke 
10:25-37).  In  the  Golden  Rule  He  made  unmistakable  the 
practical  meaning  of  love:  "Act  toward  your  fellow-men 
exactly  as  you  would  have  them  act  toward  you"  (Luke  6:31, 
Mt.  7:12).     He  was  Himself  the  living  embodiment  of  this 

112 


THE  LAW  OF  LOVE 

great  law  of  life,  and  we  understand  love  best  as  we  under- 
stand Him.  He  lived  out  his  program  of  neighborly  love  on 
the  plains  of  common  human  experience. 

People  have  said  that  Jesus'  teaching  is  too  high  and  hard, 
that  it  could  be  worked  out  only  in  a  world  of  saints.  But 
when  we  read  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount  we  find  that  although 
it  is  high  indeed,  in  every  single  case  the  principles  of  Jesus 
are  set  over  against  the  conditions,  circumstances  and  person- 
alities of  our  world.  Conduct  is  outlined  toward  a  brother 
who  is  provoking,  enemies  who  are  insulting.  Jesus  seems  to 
have  in  mind  just  the  suspicious,  unjust,  hostile,  self-seeking 
communities  with  which  we  have  to  deal  and  of  which  we 
form  a  part.  This  entire  program  of  living  is  keyed  to  the 
present  struggle  with  evil,  and  Jesus  evidently  meant  it  for 
folk  like  us. 

How  is  it  possible  to  live  this  life  of  love  to-day?  How, 
in  a  practical  way,  are  we  to  give  expression  to  it?  If  Jesus 
did  not  mean  by  love  anything  narrow  or  emotional  or 
occasional,  and  if  He  did  mean  that  positive  inner  attitude 
which  was  the  power  behind  his  own  life,  what  does  love 
mean  in  our  world?  The  word  brotherhood  best  expresses, 
perhaps,  this   principle  of   Jesus   in   our  own   vocabulary. 

It  is  a  splendid  word,  this  word  brotherhood.  It  takes 
us  back  to  the  nursery.  What  did  it  mean  to  be  a  brother  or 
a  sister  in  childhood  days?  As  people  look  back  through  the 
mists  of  the  years  they  are  tempted  to  grow  sentimental 
about  the  delights  of  chose  early  days.  But  when  we  think 
calmly  and  without  emotion  we  will  remember  that  the 
nursery  was  no  such  idealistic  dream  of  peace  and  joy  as 
sentimentalists  would  have  us  think.     There  was  tempest  as 

113 


THE  WAY  OF  CHRIST 

well  as  sunshine.  It  was  a  little  world  in  itself,  with  most 
of  the  tragedies  as  well  as  the  comedies   represented. 

But  the  law  of  the  rightly  ordered  nursery,  the  law  of 
brotherhood  which  makes  it  a  fit  symbol  of  Jesus'  love  to 
neighbor,  was  the  law  of  sharing  up.  If  there  was  one 
apple  and  six  children  the  apple  must  go  into  six  pieces. 
Sometimes  there  were  howls  and  protestations,  and  who 
would  maintain  that  he  felt  any  great  glow  of  joy  over 
the  just  division  of  the  fruit!  Were  there  sometimes  little 
brothers  or  even  little  sisters  who  would  have  preferred  the 
whole  apple?  But  because  they  were  brothers  and  sisters 
it  had  to  be  divided.  That  was  the  law  of  brotherhood. 
And  is  there  any  more  profound  definition  of  brotherhood 
than  this :  It  is  the  will  to  include  as  many  as  possible  in 
my  own  success  and  joy  and  happiness.  It  is  the  will  to 
spend  my  powers  in  the  service  of  our  common  humanity. 
How  many  brothers  do  we  have?  With  how  many  people 
do  we  will  to  share  the  good  things  of  life? 

Jesus'  declaration,  "Love  your  neighbor,"  was  nothing  less 
than  a  reasonable  life  program.  He  meant  that  young  men 
and  women  should  choose  their  life  work  with  sole  reference 
to  the  expression  of  the  brotherhood  in  their  hearts.  The 
work  to  which  the  citizen  dedicates  his  energies  is  to  be 
that  line  of  endeavor  in  which  his  personal  powers  can  be 
most  serviceable  to  humanity.  We  have  thought  of  Christ's 
law  of  love  as  a  counsel  of  despair  or  of  martyrdom.  Jesus 
thought  of  it  as  the  motive  governing  every  practical  decision 
in  life,  material  as  well  as  spiritual.  It  was  so  in  his  own 
life-.  He  faced  and  fought  and  put  behind  Him  the  tempta- 
tion to  use  his  superb  powers  for  personal  ends.  From 
beginning  to  end  He  shunned  every  temptation  to  the  sensa- 

114 


THE  LAW  OF  LOVE 

tional  and  responded  eagerly  to  every  genuine  human  need. 
Very   early   in   his    ministry   an   officer   of    the   King's    court 
came  to  Him  to  heal  his  dying  son.     ''Unless  you  and  others 
see  miracles  and  marvels,"   said  Jesus,   "nothing  will  mduce 
you    to    believe."      "Sir,"    pleaded    the    officer,    "come    down 
before  my  child  dies."     And  Jesus  responded  mstantly  (John 
4:46-50).     Human  need  called  forth  all  the  great  powers  of 
Jesus      No  one  ever  lived  who   was   so   successful  m   help- 
ing other  people.     He  helped  people  who  had  tried  disciplme 
and   failed,  who  had   tried  to  live  by  a   good  program   and 
failed      Where  precept  failed,  love  succeeded.     Jesus   loved 
men  into  the  Kingdom.     And  one  writer,  pondermg  on  his 
life,  cried  out  in  a  burst  of  eloquence :  How  God  must  love 
the' world  to  have  sent  one  like  Jesus  into  it!    (John  2,:i6.) 
It  has  been  said  that  two  types  of   men   stand  contrasted 
in  our  world,  the  scientist  and  the  politician,  the  one,  the  most 
conspicuous  success,  the  other  the  most  conspicuous  failure. 
The  labors  of  the  scientist  have  added  more  to  the  welfare 
of   mankind  than  the  efforts  of   any  other.     The  labors  of 
the  politician  have   resulted  in  war.     But  m  so   far  as  the 
scientist   has   succeeded   he   has    exemplified    Christ's    law   of 
love      Perhaps   from  an   emotional    standpoint  he  has   made 
little  pretense  of  love  to  neighbor.     But  his  motive  has  been 
a  selfless  exertion  of  will  and  intellect  in  the  service  of  truth, 
and  consequently  in  the  service  of  fellow-men.     This  is  one 
phase,  at  least,  of  Christ's  law  of  love. 

The  New  Order  that  is  to  be  will  have  love  as  its  throb- 
bing heart,  pumping  the  warm,  life-giving  blood  to  every 
part  of  the  whole  human  body. 


115 


CHAPTER  IX 
THE  CITIZEN  AND  SOCIETY 

SUGGESTIONS  FOR  PERSONAL  STUDY. 

Biblical  Material.  • 

1.  The   social   platform   of   Jesus.     Luke  4:16-22. 

2.  The  social  test  of  the  Messiah.     Luke  7:18-23. 

3.  The  social  interpretation  of  the  Beatitudes.  Luke  6:20- 
26. 

4.  The  Lord's  Prayer  socially  considered.     Mt.  6:9-13. 
Here,  as  in  our  study  of  the  law  of  love,  we  have,  scrip- 

turally  speaking,  an  embarrassment  of  riches.  Every  require- 
ment or  characteristic  of  the  citizen  which  we  have  studied 
so  far  is  to  fit  him  for  life  in  a  new  society  or  Kingdom 
of  God.  Can  you  think  of  a  single  characteristic  of  the 
citizen  studied  so  far  which  is  not  meant  specifically  to  cre- 
ate a  better  social  order?  The  Beatitudes  (Mt.  5:1-12) 
seemed  like  a  description  of  a  hermit  saint,  but  we  found 
them  to  be  capable  of  a  most  vigorous  social  interpretation. 
Luke,  indeed,  has  a  version  of  the  Beatitudes  entirely  keyed 
to  a  social  readjustment,  by  which  the  poor  and  the  needy 
will   be   cared   for, 

L  Read  Luke  4:16-22.  Paraphrase  the  passage  which 
Jesus  quoted  from  Isaiah,  substituting  modern  social  con- 
ditions which  Jesus  would  have  included  in  his  program  of 
work.  Would  He  have  included  under  "good  tidings  to  the 
poor"  and  "release  to  captives"  people  who  work  in  sweat 

116 


THE  CITIZEN  AND  SOCIETY 

shops,  children  who  work  in  glass  factories  and  cotton  mills, 
breaker  boys  who  spend  long  hours  bending  over  coal 
chutes,  telegraph  boys  sent  with  their  messages  into  the 
underworld  of  vice? 

II.  What  does  it  mean  to  "follow  Jesus"  in  the  workmg 
out  of  a  program  like  that  outlined  by  Him  at  Nazareth? 
What  are  our  obligations  toward  the  physically  and  mdus- 
trially  hampered  in  our  own  community? 

III.  Read  Luke  7:18-23.  John's  perplexity  concerning 
Jesus  was  probably  due  to  the  fact  that  he  did  not  see  the 
big  results  he  had  expected  from  the  Messiah.  Jesus  had 
spent  most  of  his  time  working  with  individuals  and  had 
not  changed  things  much  as  yet.  Do  you  think  Jesus  ex- 
pected individuals  whom  He  helped  to  help  others?  Was 
that  his  plan  of  making  a  new  society  or  order  in  the  world? 
Has  it  succeeded  or  failed?  In  so  far  as  it  has  failed,  what 
is  the  cause  for  the  failure?  What  causes  doubt  about 
Christianity  to-day?  Is  it  because  Christianity  has  not  yet 
created  the  New  Order  of  society  which  Jesus  outlined? 
Is  this  in  some  measure  due  to  the  fact  that  Christians  think 
of  their  religion  as  a  "good  thing"  for  themselves?  Does 
being  a  Christian  mean  to  you  primarily  getting  spiritual 
satisfaction  for  yourself  or  getting  in  shape  to  bring  in  a 
better  order  of  society?     Look  at  that  last  question  again. 

IV.  Read  Mt.  6:9-13.  Is  there  anything  in  that  prayer 
which  refers  to  the  individual  apart  from  his  fellows  or  is  it 
all  a  "social"  prayer?  Think  about  your  own  prayer  life. 
Do  you  ever  pray  for  any  one  besides  yourself  and  your 
own  relatives?     Have  you  caught  the  spirit  of  Jesus? 


117 


THE  WAY  OF  CHRIST 

In  the  midst  of  Jesus'  active  ministry  He  faced  one  day 
a  crowd  of  more  than  five  thousand  people.  They  were  in 
an  uninhabited  place,  for  the  crowd  had  followed  Jesus 
even  when  He  sought  seclusion.  Matthew  tells  us  that  "He 
felt  compassion  for  them  and  cured  those  of  them  who  were 
out  of  health"  (Mt.  14:14,  Weymouth).  As  He  thus  minis- 
tered to  them  the  afternoon  wore  away,  and  the  time  for  the 
evening  meal  drew  near.  The  disciples  were  troubled  about 
the  situation  and  they  came  to  Him  with  this  anxious  query, 
"This  is  an  uninhabited  place  and  the  best  of  the  day  is 
now  gone ;  shall  we  send  the  people  away  to  go  into  the 
villages  and  buy  something  to  eat?" 

We  can  imagine  that  they  were  thinking,  "This  is  too 
big  a  problem  for  us.  See  what  a  vast  multitude  is  present. 
H  there  were  only  a  few  we  might  share  our  supplies,  but 
how  can  we  handle  this  crowd?"  And  perhaps  they  were 
even  saying,  "The  IMaster  is  concerned  with  the  souls  of  these 
people,  their  religious  welfare,  and  He  cannot  be  expected 
to  deal  with  a  food  famine."  But  Jesus'  reply  was,  "They 
need  not  go  away;  you  yourselves  must  give  them  something 
to  eat."  The  story  goes  on  to  relate  how  Jesus  organized 
that  crowd,  made  use  of  the  meager  supplies  on  hand,  five 
biscuits  and  two  sardines,  and  through  the  power  of  God 
and  the  cooperation  of  the  disciples  the  needs  of  the  multi- 
tude were  more  than   met    (Mt.   14:13-21). 

To-day  the  disciples  of  Jesus  have  upon  their  lips  this 
same  guestion,  "Master,  what  shall  we  do  with  the  multi- 
tudes? How  shall  we  meet  their  needs,  physical  as  well 
as  spiritual?  It  is  too  big  a  problem  for  us.  See,  they 
are  hungry,  and  ill-clad  and  overworked  and  underfed  and 
poorly  housed,  and  not  properly  educated,  and  we  don't  see 

118 


THE  CITIZEN  AND  SOCIETY 

where  these  things  are  to  come  from.  Shall  we  send  them 
away  to  shift  for  themselves?  Perhaps,  as  your  disciples, 
these  things  are  not  a  part  of  our  business  anyhow.  Per- 
haps we  are  only  to  try  to  save  their  souls  and  not  be  con- 
cerned about  their  bodies.  But  the  living  Christ  is  saying 
to-day,  "They  need  not  go  away;  you  yourselves  must  give 
them  something  to  eat."   • 

It  seems  a  long  journey  from  the  five  thousand  men,  who 
thronged  the  shores  of  little  Galilee  almost  nineteen  cen- 
turies ago,  to  the  teeming  millions  of  our  great  cities;  from 
their  simple  life  to  the  complicated  tangle  of  modern  indus- 
trial and  social  conditions.  But  once  again  the  disciples  of 
Jesus  are  thinking  about  the  multitudes  in  their  common 
needs.  They  are  facing  the  social  life  of  to-day  and  saying, 
Master,  what  shall  we  do  with  this  crowd? 

Good  News  for  the  common  life  of  men,  or  the  social 
gospel — this  is  the  compelling  need  of  our  world.  It  is  a 
gospel  which  begins  with  the  individual  and  is  "good  news" 
for  him,  but  which  widens  with  his  widening  life  and  is 
equally  good  news  for  the  family  and  business  Hfe  and  the 
nation  and  the  world,  a  gospel  which  is  good  news  for 
despised  races  and  for  little  children  who  have  to  work 
in  factories  and  for  the  poor  and  the  weak-minded  and  the 
physically  inefficient,  and  for  womanhood  the  world  over, 
and  for  the  multimillionaire  who  often  needs  good  news  as 
much  as  any  one,  and  for  all  the  needs  of  our  common 
humanity. 

The  person  who  has  not  felt  this  need  must  have  been 
living  a  hermit's  life.  In  the  Middle  Ages  young  men  and 
women  of  the  best  type  were  mightily  attracted  by  the 
monastic  ideal,   just   because   that   seemed  the   only   way   of 

119 


THE  WAY  OF  CHRIST 

living  the  truly  Christian  life  in  the  midst  of  an  evil  world. 
The  world  is  evil  enough  to-day  but  the  challenge  lies  in 
just  the  opposite  direction.  It  is  a  challenge  tc  put  the 
yeast  of  Christlike  character  in  contact  with  the  mass  of 
humankmd,  with  the  confident  expectation  that  if  the  yeast 
be  genuine  it  will  sooner  or  later  leaven  the  whole  mass. 

I.  The  Need  for  a  Social  Gospel. 

That  the  good  news  of  Jesus  needs  to  be  applied  to  soci- 
ety as  well  as  to  the  individual  is  not  a  new  discovery, 
but  it  has  been  given  new  emphasis  in  our  time.  Perhaps 
we  have  felt  this  need  because  of  our  inquisitive  spirit. 

Suppose  a  man  gets  drunk;  he  is  personally  disgraced,  his 
home  is  imperiled  and  impoverished  and  he  is  rendered 
inefficient  for  his  work.  Is  it  simply  enough  to  say  that  that 
man  is  a  sinner?  Our  inquisitiveness  leads  us  to  ask  why  he 
got  drunk.  Was  it  simply  because  he  was  a  bad  man 
through  and  through  or  a  thoughtless  man,  or  were 
there  contributing  causes  which  were  partly  to  blame?  We 
inquire  into  his  life  and  discover  that  he  lives  in  a  tene- 
ment under  conditions  that  seem  to  us  extraordinarily  dull 
and  uninviting,  not  to  say  repulsive.  We  ask  about  his 
work  and  find  that  he  operates  a  machine  which  performs 
a  single  minute  process  in  the  making  of  a  pair  of  shoes. 
We  can  scarcely  endure  the  monotony  of  watching  the 
machine  for  ten  minutes,  but  he  must  watch  it  for  weeks 
and  months  and  years.  The  more  machine-like  his  motions, 
the  more  efficient  he  is.  There  is  little  chance  for  pride 
in  his  work. 

We  ask  about  his  pleasures  and  discover  that  he  has  no 
c^utomobile   and   consequently    has   to    depend    for   his   thrills 

120 


THE  CITIZEN  AND  SOCIETY 

on  whatever  is  to  be  had.  He  has  no  club  save  the  corner 
saloon,  and  there  concentrated  thrills  are  provided  at  five 
cents  the  glass,  and  he  seeks  to  forget  his  troubles  in  the  ways 
society  has  provided  just  as  we  forget  our  troubles  in  the 
socially  recognized  pleasures  of  our  group.  And  we  are 
led  to  ask,  Is  not  society  the  sinner  as  well  as  this  man? 
It  is  possible  to  live  the  Christian  life  under  conditions  like 
that,  for  men  and  women  have  done  it,  and  are  doing  it 
to-day,  but  would  it  not  be  vastly  easier  if  the  conditions 
of  life  were  more  favorable? 

Or  here  is  a  man  at  the  other  end  of  the  social  scale 
who  has  gathered  together  a  hundred  millions  of  dollars. 
His  methods  of  acquiring  it  have  been  corrupt  and  unjust. 
We  say  he  is  a  malefactor  of  great  wealth.  He  has  no 
business  with  so  much  money.  Too  much  power  is  gathered 
in  the  hands  of  one  man  and  even  if  he  use  the  power 
wisely  and  well  it  is  wrong  that  he  should  have  it.  But  his 
reply  is,  "I  am  not  to  blame.  Society  is  the  sinner.  It  is 
the  way  society  is  organized  that  has  enabled  me  to  gain 
this  great  wealth.  I  am  but  a  cog,  even  if  a  big  cog,  in 
a  vast  machine.  These  corrupt  practices  which  have  made 
me  rich  are  the  common  ways  of  the  world.  The  men  who 
cry  me  down  have  tried  the  same  corrupt  means,  only  less 
successfully.  Society  lays  its  richest  rewards  at  my  feet  and 
praises  me  for  what  I  have  done."  Is  there  something  to 
be  said  for  the  argument  of  this  rich  man? 

Or  here  is  a  college  student.  For  four  years  he  lives 
apart  from  the  common  burdens  and  responsibilities  of  life. 
He  develops  habits  of  idleness,  selfishness,  and  extravagance. 
He  forgets  that  he  is  living  upon  the  fruits  which  others 
have   grown,   that   these   days   set   apart   are   always   bought 

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THE  WAY  OF  CHRIST 

with  the  life  blood  and  the  tears  of  somebody.  Has  he  the 
same  excuse?  Society  makes  possible,  even  encourages,  such 
a  life  in  college  days.  It  counts  upon  the  sowing  of  wild 
oats,  laughs  at  questionable  exploits,  expects  little  hard  work, 
tolerates  a  code  of  morals  which  could  not  prevail  else- 
where. 

And  so  through  all  the  levels  of  society  each  man  has 
the  same  plausible  excuse  for  his  shortcomings  and  his  sins, 
until  we  cry  out  to  God  for  a  gospel  that  shall  meet  these 
conditions.  It  is  not  enough  to  pick  up  the  men  who  lie 
wounded  and  bleeding  by  the  way  that  leads  from  Jerusalem 
to  Jericho;  we  want  to  deal  with  the  bands  of  robbers  that 
infest  that  district.  It  is  good  to  pluck  firebrands  from  the 
burning,  but  what  is  to  be  done  about  putting  out  the  fires 
that  waste  and  destroy?  The  challenge  of  the  times  is  for 
a  social  gospel  to  reinforce  and  make  effectual  the  individual 
gospel.  We  want  a  good  news  for  the  world.  Had  Jesus 
such  a  gospel  to  offer? 

II.  Jesus'  Social  Ideal. 

Jesus  began  his  work  by  saying,  "The  time  has  fully  come 
and  the  Kingdom  of  God  is  close  at  hand:  repent  and  be- 
lieve this  Good  News."  He  had  nothing  to  say  about  indi- 
viduals apart  from  this  social  ideal  of  a  kingdom  or  rule 
of  God.  His  picture  of  society  was  that  of  a  family— a 
world-wide,  peaceable,  serviceable  brotherhood.  In  studying 
about  his  idea  of  this  New  Order  we  saw  how  it  partakes 
of  the  very  spirit  of  democracy.  The  Jews  had  always 
thought  of  the  better  day  which  was  to  come  in  social  rather 
than    in   individual   terms.     It   was    not    to    be   a   better    day 

J^2 


THE  CITIZEN  AND  SOCIETY 

for   a   few   or   even   many   individuals   but   a  better   day   for 
the  nation  as  a  whole. 

Jesus  widened  this  ideal  by  denying  the  national  limitations. 
It  was  for  Gentiles  as  well  as  Jews.  He  deepened  it  by 
making  it  a  spiritual  rather  than  a  mere  political  kingdom. 
He  ptiriiied  it  by  revealing  God  as  Father  and  men  as  his 
sons  and,  therefore,  as  brothers.  He  made  it  a  present  possi- 
bility rather  than  a  dream  for  the  future  by  showing  how 
this  New  Order  of  affairs  may  begin  now  in  the  hearts  of 
men,  and  that  however  small  and  insignificant  its  beginnings, 
we  may  confidently  expect  that  it  will  grow.  He  made  it  a 
present  reality  in  his  own  life  and  in  his  relations  with  others. 
He  set  forth  the  only  motive  which  has  ever  proved  effectual 
in  social  endeavor,  a  love  as  spontaneously  alive  to  a  neigh- 
bor's need  as  to  its  own.  Jesus  gave  the  world  a  social  gospel, 
the  Good  News  of  the  Kingdom  of  God,  in  which  Kingdom 
the  king  is  a  divine  Father  and  all  the  subjects  are  sons 
and  all  the   sons  are  brothers. 

When  Jesus  came  to  his  home  city,  Nazareth,  He  seemed 
to  feel  the  necessity  of  explaining  to  his  own  townspeople 
the  nature  of  the  mission  He  had  undertaken  in  the  world. 
He  entered  into  the  synagogue  and  read  this  wonderful 
passage  from  the  prophecy  of  Isaiah: 

The  spirit,  of  the  Lord  is  upon  me, 

Because  he   has  anointed  me  to  proclaim   Good   News  to 

the  poor;  . 

He  has  sent  me  to  pronounce  release  to  the  prisoners  ot 

war 
And  recovery  of  sight  to  the  blind : 
To  send  away  free  those  whom  tyranny  has  crushed, 

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THE  WAY  OF  CHRIST 

To  proclaim  the  year  of  acceptance  with  the  Lord. 
(Isaiah  6i  :i,  2.) 

Then  He  proceeded  to  say  to  them,  "To-day  is  this  scrip- 
ture fulfilled  in  your  hearing."  His  active  sympathy  with 
those  who  were  the  victims  of  the  social  order  of  his  own 
time,  his  shocking  fellowship  with  publicans  and  sinners,  his 
words  of  cheer  for  the  poor  and  of  warning  for  the  rich, 
the  democratic  spirit  which  He  describes  as  the  spirit  of  the 
New  Order,  his  work  of  ministry  to  the  sick  of  body  as 
well  as  to  the  sick  of  heart,  his  entire  life  and  teaching, 
is  a  commentary  upon  that  inaugural  at  Nazareth. 

And  yet,  in  spite  of  the  superb  sympathy  and  service  which 
Jesus  rendered  to  the  downtrodden  classes  and  races  and 
in  spite  of  his  fair  and  just  social  ideal,  there  are  those  who 
find  his  social  attitude  disappointing.  H  He  so  sympathized 
with  the  unfortunate  victims  of  the  social  order  of  his  day, 
why  did  He  not  advocate  tearing  up  the  old  social  order 
and  substituting  something  better?  Instead  of  that  He  ac- 
tually spent  his  time  helping  individuals.  He  lavished  Him- 
self upon  individuals.  "He  had  always  leisure  to  attend  to 
the  humblest ;   even  the  children  could  claim  his  time." 

John  the  Baptist  seemed  to  feel  this  difficulty.  He  did  not 
see  things  happening  in  the  sweeping  way  he  had  expected. 
He  had  thought  the  Messiah  would  inaugurate  tremendous 
changes.  And  so  he  sent  from  his  prison  cell,  asking,  "Are 
you  the  Coming  One  or  is  there  a  different  person  that  we 
are  to  expect?"  (Alt.  11:3.)  Jesus'  answer  was  almost  a 
repetition  of  his  inaugural  at  Nazareth :  "Go  and  report  to 
John  what  you  see  and  hear ;  blind  eyes  receive  sight  and 
cripples  walk;  lepers   are   cleansed   and   deaf   ears  hear;   the 

124 


THE  CITIZEN  AND  SOCIETY 

dead  are  raised  to  life  and  the  poor  have  the  Good  News 
proclaimed  to  them."  He  seems  to  have  committed  Him- 
self to  personal  service  with  the  social  ideal  in  view. 

It  is  true  that  Jesus  did  not  say  anything  about  socialism 
or  trade  unionism  or  political  revolution  or  economic  the- 
ories or  even  the  equivalents  of  those  things  in  his  own  day. 
He  was  dealing  with  a  people  who  were  very  eager  for 
political  and  social  revolution.  They  were  tinder  ready 
for  any  spark  to  set  them  in  flame.  From  the  Temptation 
to  the  Cross  Jesus  resolutely  set  his  face  against  committing 
the  New  Order  to  such  agencies.  He  knew  that  no  mere 
redistribution  of  property  or  social  reorganization  would 
bring  in  the  New  Order  if  the  people  who  made  up  the 
readjusted  social  order  had  the  same  kind  of  hearts  as 
before.  The  New  Order  is  first  of  all  an  inner  spirit  which 
seeks  to  find  outer  forms  of  expression.  This  was  the 
reason  why  Jesus  sought  to  create  a  group  of  individuals 
who  have  this  social  ideal  and  are  committed  unreservedly 
to  it  from  the  inside  out. 

III.  Jesus'  Attitude  Toward  Social  Institutions. 

If  we  cannot  find  in  the  teachings  of  Jesus  a  specific  social 
program,  we  do  find  an  attitude  of  approach  and  the  values 
to  be  conserved.  Jesus,  standing  at  the  center  of  the  same 
circles  of  social  life  which  surround  us,  claimed  them  all  for 
the   New   Order. 

The  first  of  these  circles  is  the  home.  "Jesus  throughout 
his  public  career  was  singularly  homeless.  The  Son  of  Man 
had  nowhere  to  lay  his  head."  With  the  most  touching 
solitariness  of  spirit  He  "stretched  forth  his  hand  toward 
his  disciples  and  said,  Behold,  my  mother  and  my  brethren." 

125 


THE  WAY  OF  CHRIST 

Yet  the  religion  of  this  homeless  teacher  was,  in  its  char- 
acter and  symbolism,  a  religion  of  the  home.  God  was  a 
father,  man  was  his  child,  and  the  communion  of  man  with 
God  was  the  intimacy  of  child  with  parent.  "The  self- 
reproach  of  sin  was  nothing  else  than  homesickness;  and 
the  first  utterance  of  a  repentant  life  was:  'I  will  arise  and 
go  to  my  father.'  "  * 

We  shall  expect  to  find  that  Jesus  guarded  closely  an 
institution  which  offered  the  fittest  symbolism  for  the  New 
Order.  He  encouraged  marriage  (Mt.  19:4,  5).  and  struck 
at  everything  that  threatened  the  home  (Mt.  19:6,  Mk.  10:10- 
12).  Nothing  reveals  his  attitude  toward  the  home  more 
than  his  love  of  children.  In  the  same  chapter  in  which 
Mark  records  Jesus'  sharp  words  about  the  dangers  threat- 
ening the  home,  he  records  the  beautiful  tenderness  of  the 
childless  Master  for  the  children  who  were  brought  to  Him 
(Mk.  10:13-15).  "He  .took  them  in  his  arms  and  blessed 
them  lovingly,  one  by  one"  (Weymouth).  He  had  some- 
thing to  say  about  family  life  also.  We  are  not  to  suppose 
that  He  meant  that  the  Golden  Rule  was  simply  for  extra- 
family  observance.  That  inner  attitude  toward  other  people 
finds  its  first  and  most  constant  chance  for  expression  in 
the  home  circle,  and  we  are  awkward  and  selfish  neighbors 
because  we  are  habitually  that  kind  of  sons  and  daughters. 
In  regard  to  the  relations  between  parents  and  children  He 
taught  that  the  duties  of  the  latter  to  the  former  are  real 
and  in  no  sense  formal    (Mk.  7:6-13). 

But  with  all  his  love  for  the  home,  Jesus  taught  that  it 

*    Peabody,    The    Christian    Life    in    the    Modern    World, 

pp.  44,  45- 

126 


THE  CITIZEN  AND  SOCIETY 

was  not  to  be  an  end  in  itself  but  simply  the  highway  into 
the  larger  Kingdom  of  God.  The  family  whose  code  is, 
"Me  and  my  wife,  my  son  John  and  his  wife,  us  four  and 
no  more,"  defeats  the  New  Order  of  Jesus  almost  as  com- 
pletely as  do  lax  divorce  laws  and  social  immorality.  Was 
this  part  of  Jesus'  meaning  when  He  said,  "If  any  one 
comes  to  me  and  hates  not  his  father  and  mother  and 
brothers  and  sisters,  yes,  and  his  own  life  also,  he  cannot 
be  my  disciple"?  (Luke  14:26.)  To  Jesus  the  family  meant, 
then^  a  stage  in  the  realization  of  that  universal  family,  the 
Kingdom  of  God. 

The  second  of  the  social  circles  which  Jesus  dealt  with 
was  the  business  world.  Jesus  must  have  been  decidedly 
attracted  by  business  enterprises.  He  had  spent  the  larger 
part  of  his  life  in  the  thick  of  them.  He  draws  his  illustra- 
tions from  three  principal  fields — nature,  the  family,  and  the 
business  world,  and  it  is  from  the  last  that  He  draws  most 
copiously  when  He  is  talking  about  the  kind  of  character 
which  the  New  Order  will  produce.  He  seems  to  have 
thought  of  the  business  life  as  a  kind  of  school  for  char- 
acter. His  teachings  are  full  of  shepherds,  merchants,  fisher- 
men, laborers,  householders,  builders;  in  fact,  all  the  varied 
business  enterprises  of  the  day  are  reflected  in  the  pages  of 
the  gospels.  It  was  a  very  different  sort  of  industrial  and 
commercial  life  from  our  own,  but  we  have  only  to  substitute 
the  inventor,  the  manufacturer,  the  wage-earner,  the  trustee, 
the  contractor,  for  the  business  figures  of  the  gospel,  to  see 
the  same  fundamental  problems  which  appear  to-day. 

It  would  be  foolish  to  seek  to  find  detailed  information 
about  the  complex  problems  of  to-day,  but  we  may  be  sure  that 

127 


THE  WAY  OF  CHRIST 

Jesus  believed  that  one  could  be  a  citizen  of  the  New  Order 
and  engage  in  these  necessary  occupations.  Does  it  follow 
that  when  business  is  so  conducted  that  the  principles  of  the 
New  Order  are  not  observed  Jesus  would  advocate  a  reorgan- 
ization of  business?  He  did  set  forth  two  fundamental  prin- 
ciples which  are  being  increasingly  recognized.  The  first  was 
the  law  of  service :  "Whoever  would  be  chief  among  you 
must  be  your  servant"  (IMk.  10:43).  The  second  was  the  law 
of  humanization :  "Is  not  a  man  of  more  value  than  a 
sheep?"  Jesus  asked  (Mt.  12:12).  In  a  day  when  business 
to  many  seems  nothing  other  than  a  form  of  piracy  or 
warfare,  these  two  principles  of  service  and  of  humaniza- 
tion are  steadily  gaining  ground. 

Jesus  had  little  to  say  about  his  own  nation  as  a  nation. 
The  peculiar  circumstances  of  the  Jews  made  it  difficult  for 
Him  to  express  the  profound  patriotism  which  underlies 
all  his  teaching  without  stirring  a  revolutionary  spirit.  Re- 
volt against  Rome  would  have  been  suicidal,  and  besides, 
Jesus  was  not  willing  to  permit  the  ideal  of  the  New  Order 
to  be  identified  with  the  passion,  bitterness  and  narrow 
nationalism  of  the  Jewish  revolutionists.  His  nation  was 
to  Jesus  the  divinely  appointed  and  prepared  instrument  for 
bringing  in  the  New  Order  upon  earth.  He  betrays  not 
the  least  interest  in  mere  political  greatness  as  such.  His 
thought  is  all  keyed  to  the  coming  of  the  wider  brotherhood 
of  man  upon  earth. 

Jesus  did  not  despair  of  a  single  social  institution.  He 
claimed  them  all  for  the  new  Kingdom.  No  one  ever  saw 
more  clearly  their  weaknesses  and  wrongs,  but  He  seemed  to 
trust  implicitly  that  the  reign  of  God  in  the  hearts  of  indi- 

128 


THE  CITIZEN  AND  SOCIETY 

viduals  would  eventually  mean  the  rescuing  of  every  worthy 
social  institution  for  the  New  Order. 

IV.  The  Social  Attitude  of  the  Citizen. 

In  one  paragraph  Paul  has  two  paradoxical  sayings  which 
seem  to  gather  up  the  whole  attitude  of  the  citizen  toward 
society.  He  is  writing  to  the  Galatian  churches  and  he 
tells  them  to  "bear  one  another's  burdens  and  thus  fulfill 
the  law  of  Christ."  But  he  has  scarcely  finished  that  word 
of  advice  before  he  seems  to  contradict  it  by  saying,  "For 
each  man  must  bear  his  own  burden"  (Gal.  6:i-6).  It  is 
not  a  real  contradiction,  however,  but  a  great  philosophy  of 
life.  The  context  shows  that  what  Paul  means  is  that 
although  every  man  has  to  bear  the  burden  of  moral  respon- 
sibility for  himself  and  no  one  can  assume  that  burden  for 
him,  at  the  same  time  Christ's  law  is  that  we  shall  help  to 
bear  the  outward  burdens  of  all  the  needy. 

The  citizen  of  the  Kingdom  will  say  in  every  situation, 
"]\Iy  responsibility  is  to  make  my  decision  right,  whatever 
the  circumstances  are,  and  also  to  make  the  circumstances 
right  whatever  other  men's  decisions  are."  This  is  the  two- 
fold responsibility  of  the  citizen  of  the  Kingdom  toward 
society  in  all  its  forms.  We  cannot  make  decisions  for  other 
people  nor  are  we  responsible  for  their  decisions  save  as 
we  have  failed  to  make  every  circumstance  surrounding  their 
lives  helpful  toward  a  right  decision. 

It  is  largely  through  social  sympathy  and  service  that  the 
citizen  of  the  New  Order  gets  his  spiritual  growth.  We 
do  not  become  spiritually-minded  by  saying,  Go  to,  now,  I 
will  become  spiritually-minded.  God  looks  after  our  spiritual 
growth ;    we   are   not  compelled   to   bear   that  burden.     Our 

129 


THE  WAY  OF  CHRIST 

burden  Is  the  social  burden.  As  we  live  our  lives  at  home, 
in  the  community,  at  school,  at  work,  in  the  church,  "bear- 
ing one  another's  burdens,"  God  will  take  care  of  the  inner 
life. 


130 


CHAPTER  X 
THE  CAPITAL  CITY  OF  THE  KINGDOM 

SUGGESTIONS  FOR  PERSONAL  STUDY 

Biblical  Material. 

1.  Living   near   the   boundary   lines. 

a.  The  professional  line.     Mk.  2:1-7. 

b.  The   line   of    prejudice.     Mk.    2:13-16. 

c.  The  ceremonial  line.     Mk.  2:18. 

d.  The   traditional   line.     Mk.   2:23,   24;   3:1,   2. 

e.  The  geographical  line.     John  4:19,  20. 

!.     The   line   of    calculating   goodness.     Mt.    18:21. 
g.     The  moral  line.     Mk.  10:17-20. 

2.  Living   at   the   capital   of   the    Kingdom. 

a.  The   power   of    God    instead   of    professionalism. 
Mk.  2:8-12. 

b.  Sympathy    instead    of     narrow    prejudice.      Mk. 
2:17. 

c.  Fresh  vitality  instead  of  ceremonialism.     Mk.  2 : 
19-22. 

d.  Human    needs     above    tradition.      Mk.    2:25-28; 
3  -3-6. 

e.  A  worshipful  spirit  instead  of  prescribed  places. 
John  4  :2i-24. 

f.  Hearty    (Mt.    18:35)    instead   of   calculating   for- 
giveness.    Mt.   18:22,  35. 

131 


THE  WAY  OF  CHRIST 

g.    A  sacrificial  venture  instead  of  easy  morality.  Mt. 
10:21,  22. 

I.  Make  a  careful  study  of  the  boundary  lines  as  laid 
out  by  the  Pharisees.  Is  there  any  danger  of  living  near 
such  boundary  lines  to-day?  What  do  you  understand  by 
"professionalism"  in  religion?  Do  you  know  people  who 
have  such  a  spirit  in  their  religious  life?  Are  you  entirely 
free  from  it  yourself?  What  fences  of  prejudice  exist  to- 
day? In  the  light  of  Mark  2:13-17,  what  should  the  Chris- 
tian's attitude  be  toward  such  fences?  Think  of  the  people 
you  are  prejudiced  against.  Put  down  the  reasons  why  you 
dislike  them.  Are  these  reasons  Pharisaical  or  Christlike? 
Can  you  think  of  any  tradition  in  your  personal  life  or  in 
the  life  of  your  school  or  community  which  is  Pharisaical? 
How  would  Christ  regard  such  a  tradition? 

II.  Now  ignore  the  particular  boundary  line  disputes  which 
the  Pharisees  brought  to  Jesus  and  think  of  their  attitude 
as  a  whole.  How  would  you  describe  it?  Does  the  word 
legalistic  correctly  characterize  it?  Face  this  same  question 
yourself.  Does  religion  to  you  mean  simply  lists  of  things 
you  ought  or  ought  not  to  do?  Does  it  mean  anything  more 
than  boundary  lines? 

III.  Contrast  Jesus'  attitude.  Why  was  He  indifferent 
to  many  boundaries  the  Pharisees  thought  important?  Read 
again  his  answers  to  their  criticisms.  What  was  the  out- 
standing difference  between  Jesus'  own  religious  life  and 
that  of  the  Pharisees?  Test  your  own  life  by  the  qualities 
which  have  appeared  in  our  study  of  Jesus. 


132 


THE  CAPITAL  CITY 

It  has  often  proved  perilous  to  live  near  boundary  lines. 
The  buffer  state  always  suffers  first  and  most  severely 
in  time  of  warfare.  And  yet  men  live  on  in  the  border  coun- 
try. 

The  peril  of  living  on  the  border  between  hostile  nations 
is  simply  an  illustration  of  the  peril  of  border  living  in 
general,  for  kingdoms  of  thought  and  conduct  have  their 
boundaries  which  are  disputed  as  vigorously  as  are  territorial 
limits.  This  has  always  been  particularly  true  about  the 
boundary  lines  between  the  Kingdoms  of  Right  and  Wrong. 
The  border  region  of  these  two  kingdoms  is  the  most  thickly 
populated  district  in  the  moral  and  spiritual  life  of  humanity. 

Very  few  people  are  willing  to  admit  that  they  live  in  the 
Kingdom  of  Wrong.  Even  if  it  can  be  shown  that  they 
are  actually  dwelling  there,  they  would  probably  insist  that 
they  are  by  no  means  permanent  residents  but  simply  tempo- 
rary inhabitants  of  the  district  for  business  or  social  or 
political  purposes.  But  as  far  back  as  the  memory  of  man- 
kind reaches  there  has  been  a  bitter  struggle  on  as  to  just 
where  the  division  line  fence  between  right  and  wrong,  and 
good  and  evil,  and  truth  and  falsehood  should  be  run. 

I.  Boundary  Lines. 

This  problem  was  absorbing  the  attention  of  the  religious 
leaders  of  the  Jews  in  Jesus'  day.  When  He  faced  the 
Scribes  and  Pharisees  it  was  quickly  apparent  that  their 
views  were  diametrically  opposed.  When  we  brand  a  person 
as  Pharisaical  we  usually  mean  that  he  is,  in  our  estima- 
tion, a  hypocrite.  But  Jesus  faced  a  far  bigger  problem 
than  a  group  of   men  whose  prayers  and  practices   did  not 

133 


THE  WAY  OF  CHRIST 

square.  He  was  facing  a  great  philosophy  of  life  which 
exists  to  the  present  day. 

To  the  Pharisees  the  Kingdom  of  God  was  a  definite  area 
and  the  business  of  religion  was  to  run  the  division  lines 
and  place  the  corner  posts  and  fence  it  in.  Whoever  strayed 
outside  their  fence  was  outside  the  Kingdom  and  whoever 
was  inside  their  fence  was  inside  the  Kingdom.  These 
religious  leaders  were  confronted  with  a  tremendous  task,  for 
they  were  compelled  to  survey  all  life  down  to  the  minutest 
act  of  the  individual  in  every  conceivable  circumstance  and 
say  whether  that  act  was  inside  or  outside  the  fence.  The 
common  people  were  confused  and  perplexed  because  it  re- 
quired an  expert  theological  surveyor  to  know  where  this 
ceremonial  and  traditional  line  ran  amid  the  common  tasks 
of  life.  The  Pharisees  and  Scribes  were  busy  keeping  up 
the  fences  and  explaining  why  they  belonged  in  just  this 
or  that  place. 

It  was  into  a  situation  such  as  this  that  Jesus  came  with 

his  message   of  the   New   Order.     He   began   his   work  with 

the  announcement  that  the  New  Order  was  at  hand.     Almost 

at   once   He   was   questioned   about   the   boundaries.     Where 

»      did  He  propose  to  run  them? 

Mark's  gospel  gives,  in  interesting  sequence,  a  series  of 
attacks  increasing  in  aggressiveness  and  bitterness  during  the 
early  days  of  the  Galilean  ministry.  The  first  clash  came 
over  the  healing  of  a  paralyzed  man  who  was  brought  to 
Jesus  by  four  friends  (Mk.  2:1-12).  Recognizing  the  faith 
of  this  man  and  his  friends,  Jesus  said  to  the  paralyzed 
man,  "My  son,  your  sins  are  pardoned."  Immediately  the 
Scribes  who  were  present  said,  "Forgiveness  doesn't  come  that 
way.     This  man  must  go  to  the  priests  and  go  through  the 

134 


THE  CAPITAL  CITY 

prescribed  ceremonies  before  there  can  be  any  forgiveness 
for  him."  These  scribal  experts  knew  just  where  the  cere- 
monial fence  ran  which  this  man  must  climb  before  he 
could  be  forgiven,  and  they  cried,  "Blasphemy!"  But  Jesus 
seemed  to  say  that  God  is  not  bound  by  man-made  bounda- 
ries. He  deals  with  men  according  to  the  inner  facts  of 
their  lives.  And  to  prove  it  He  caused  the  life-giving, 
healing  power  of  God  to  course  through  the  man's  paralyzed 
body. 

The  second  clash  was  over  a  question  of  boundaries  also 
(Mk.  2:13-17).  Jesus  had  called  IMatthew  the  tax-gatherer 
to  be  his  follower.  In  the  eyes  of  all  Jews  this  Matthew 
would  be  classed  as  a  renegade.  But  Matthew  was  glad  to 
follow  Jesus,  and  he  celebrated  with  a  great  feast,  inviting 
the  only  friends  he  had,  tax-gatherers  and  unchurched  people 
like  himself.  Jesus  was  invited  and  accepted.  That  was 
a  definite  step  outside  the  boundary  lines,  according  to  the 
religious  leaders.  "Doesn't  your  Master  draw  the  line  at 
men  like  these?"  they  asked  Jesus'  disciples.  He  said,  "It  is 
not  the  healthy  who  require  a  doctor,  but  the  sick.  I  did  not 
come  to  appeal  to  the  righteous,  but  to  sinners"  (Mk.  2:17, 
Weymouth). 

The  third  clash  was  about  ceremonial.  The  religious 
leaders  made  use  of  the  honest  difficulty  felt  by  the  dis- 
ciples of  John  because  Jesus  and  his  disciples  did  not  fast 
(Mk.  2:18-22).  They  asked  Him,  "Do  you  mean  to  say 
that  you  don't  even  observe  fast  days?"  They  felt  that 
all  their  fences  were  tumbling  down.  Jesus  turned  to  John's 
disciples,  we  may  well  believe,  and  replied,  "You  will  remem- 
ber that  your  master  John  said  I  was  the  bridegroom  and 
he  was  the  bridegroom's  friend  (John  3:29).    And  you  know 


THE  WAY  OF  CHRIST 

that  friends  of  the  bridegroom  are  released  from  the  cere- 
monial regulations  lest  the  joy  of  the  occasion  be  marred." 
These  words  He  seemed  to  speak  to  meet  the  needs  of 
John's  disciples ;  then  He  turns  more  to  the  Pharisees  with 
the  words : 

No  one  mends  an  old  garment  with  a  piece  of  unshrunk 
cloth.  Otherwise,  the  patch  put  on  would  tear  away  from 
it — the  new  from  the  old — and  a  worse  hole  would  be  made. 
And  no  one  pours  new  wine  into  old  wine-skins.  Otherwise 
the  wine  would  burst  the  skins,  and  both  wine  and  skins 
would  be  lost.  New  wine  needs  fresh  skins.  (Mk.  2:21,  22, 
Weymouth.) 

This  New  Order  was  a  new  spirit  too  powerful  and  expan- 
sive to  be  confined  in  old  boundaries. 

The  fourth  clash  and  the  fifth  follow  in  rapid  succession 
(Mk.  2:23-28;  3:1-6).  They  had  to  do  with  the  field  where 
the  Scribes  had  spent  many  a  weary  day  running  the  division 
fences,  the  field  of  Sabbath  observance.  And  Jesus  dis- 
regarded the  carefully  erected  divisions.  You  Pharisees,  He 
seemed  to  say,  have  missed  the  whole  point  of  the  matter. 
You  act  as  though  man  was  made  for  the  purpose  of  observ- 
ing your  traditions  about  the  Sabbath.  The  opposite  is  the 
case.  The  Sabbath  was  made  to  minister  to  the  physical, 
mental,  and  spiritual  man    (Mk.  2:27-28). 

Time  and  again  Jesus  was  asked  where  the  boundary  lines 
ought  to  run.  The  Samaritan  woman  asked  Him  about  places 
for  worshiping  God,  "Where  does  the  line  run?  Does  it 
include  Samaria  or  is  Jerusalem  the  only  proper  place?" 
And  Jesus  answered,  "Believe  me,  the  time  is  coming  when 
you   will   worship  the   Father  neither  on  this   mountain   nor 

136 


THE  CAPITAL  CITY 

in  Jerusalem.  .  .  .  But  a  time  is  coming,  nay,  has  already 
come,  when  the  true  worshipers  will  worship  the  Father 
with  true  spiritual  worship"   (John  4:21-23,  Weymouth). 

Peter  brought  up  the  old  boundary  question  about  forgive- 
ness :  "Master,  how  often  shall  my  brother  act  wrongly 
toward  me  and  I  forgive  him?     Seven  times?" 

"I  do  not  say  seven  times,"  answered  Jesus,  "but  countless 
times"    (Mt.    18:21,   22,    Weymouth). 

But  Jesus'  attitude  toward  this  whole  question  of  bounda- 
ries comes  to  clearest  expression  in  the  conversation  with 
the  wealthy  ruler  (Mk.  10:17-31).  This  man  came  running 
up  to  ask,  "Good  Master,  what  am  I  to  do  to  inherit  eter- 
nal life?"  Jesus  answered,  "You  know  the  boundaries.  Do 
not  murder.  Do  not  commit  adultery,  Do  not  steal,  and  the 
rest."  "Oh,  yes,"  said  the  man,  "I've  kept  inside  the  bounda- 
ries from  my  youth."  "Then,"  said  Jesus,  "cut  loose  from 
everything  and  follow   me." 

When  Jesus  found  a  man  who  was  tired  of  running  boun- 
dary lines  He  invited  him  to  leave  the  border  country  and 
visit  the  capital  of  the  Kingdom  of  God.  He  issued  no  list 
of  the  boundary  lines  or  the  corner  posts.  No  boundary 
line  disputes  vexed  his  soul,  because  He  Himself  lived  at 
the  capital  of  the  Kingdom.  The  Scribes  and  Pharisees 
spent  all  their  time  thinking  about  disputes  over  divisions 
and  limits  and  laws.  Their  eyes  were  fixed  on  the  ground. 
They  seem  never  to  have  discovered  how  very  fair  the  King- 
dom itself  was.  They  were  so  busy  warning  folk  about 
stepping  over  lines  that  they  had  not  the  time  to  describe 
the  joys  of  the  land,  its  running  brooks  and  fertile  fields 
and  lofty  hills,  if  indeed  they  themselves  had  ever  noticed 
these   attractions !      But   Jesus    dwelt   in   the   great   interior 

137 


THE  WAY  OF  CHRIST 

regions  of  the  Kingdom.  He  lived  on  the  high  plateaus 
and  the  broad  plains  where  as  far  as  the  eye  could  reach 
it  was  all  God's  country.  He  dwelt  at  the  capital  of  the 
Kingdom,  the  capital  where  God  lives  and  men  may  see 
and  know  Him  and  hold  friendly  conversation  with  Him  and 
receive  strength  and  daily  guidance  for  the  business  of  living. 

II.  The  New  Order  Not  a  New  Set  of  Laws. 

We  have  thought  of  the  New  Order  as  the  rule  of  God 
in  the  life  of  the  individual,  and  we  have  discussed  the 
ideal  citizen  and  his  inner  attitude  towards  God  and  men 
and  things.  We  have  called  this  inner  attitude  the  law  of 
love.  We  have  thought  of  the  citizen  as  he  faced  society. 
But  now  we  must  go  one  step  farther.  What  is  to  be  the 
motive  power  behind  this  splendid  program  for  the  indi- 
vidual and  for  society?  Is  this  program  of  the  New  Order 
another  set  of  laws,  another  set  of  boundary  lines,  truer 
and  straighter  than  the  boundary  lines  of  the  Pharisees  of 
old,  but  no  less  irkaome  and  difficult,  rather,  vastly  more 
difficult? 

He  who  faces  the  program  of  the  New  Order  as  Jesus 
outlined  it  in  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount  will  find  it  impos- 
sibly high  and  hard.  All  honor  to  the  young  man  or  woman 
who  in  the  flush  of  idealism  determines  by  the  power  of  his 
own  will  to  live  out  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount !  But  the 
odds  are  heavy  against  him.  There  was  a  young  man  who 
lived  in  the  first  century  of  the  Christian  era,  the  vigor 
of  whose  will  and  the  energy  of  whose  personality  the  world 
has  not  ceased  to  marvel  at.  But  Paul  confessed  that  a 
program  of  living  vastly  easier  of  accomplishment  than  the 
C^bristian  program   condemned   him.     He   could  not   live   up 

138 


THE  CAPITAL  CITY 

to  the  letter  of  the  Jewish  law.  Who  will  venture  in  his 
own  strength  to  face  the  program  of  the  New  Order  and 
live  it  out?  As  a  program,  as  a  law,  as  a  set  of  boundary 
lines,   it   is   impossibly  hard. 

Are  we  to  suppose  that  Jesus  of  Nazareth  did  not  know 
how  high  and  hard  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount  is?  Could 
He  have  lived  in  little  Nazareth  eighteen  years,  after  that 
transforming  experience  at  the  temple,  without  discovering 
what  human  nature  is  like?  Did  He  not  battle  with  re- 
ligious leaders  who  were  crafty  and  selfish  and  hypocritical? 
Did  He  not  understand  that  the  multitude  flocked  to  Him 
because  He  fed  them  or  healed  their   diseases? 

And  what  of  his  own  disciples?  How  far  short  they  fell 
of  the  ideal !  It  was  two  members  of  the  inner  circle,  James 
and  John,  whose  minds  were  filled  with  thoughts  of  worldly 
honor  when  they  asked,  "Allow  us  to  sit  one  at  your  right 
hand  and  the  other  at  your  left,  in  your  glory"  (Mk.  io:37» 
Weymouth).  And  yet,  in  spite  of  it  all,  Jesus  spoke  these 
high  and  hard  words,  which  have  seemed  the  despair  almost 
more  than  the  hope  of  humanity.  He  offered  no  new  set 
of  laws  as  a  substitute  for  the  old.  He  offered  a  new  life. 
Instead  of  a  program  He  promised  power.  This  New  Order 
in  its  fair  outlines  was  simply  the  characteristic  way  in 
which  the  new  life  would  express  itself.  He  dared  to  pro- 
claim such  a  lofty  way  of  life  because  He  believed  that 
there  is  a  power  available  for  common  men  and  women 
beyond  their  own  resources,  which  will  enable  them  to  live 
the  life  He  outlined  and  make  the  New  Order  a  reality 
on  this  earth. 


139 


THE  WAY  OF  CHRIST 

III.  Sources  of  Power  for  the  Citizen. 

What  are  the  sources  of  power  without  which  this  New 
Order  is  only  a  glittering  dream? 

Mark,  with  characteristic  simplicity,  reveals  the  principal 
source  of  power  for  that  early  group  of  disciples.  In  de- 
scribing the  selection  of  the  Twelve  Apostles  he  says,  "He 
went  up  the  hill ;  and  those  whom  He  Himself  chose  He 
called,  and  they  came  to  Him.  He  appointed  twelve  of  them 
that  they  might  be  with  Him,  and  that  He  might  send  them  to 
proclaim  his  message."  Then  follow  the  names  of  the  twelve. 
In  one-syllable  words  Mark  reveals  the  primary  reason  why 
Jesus  chose  these  men.  It  was  in  order  "that  they  might 
be  with  him."  He  needed  them  and  they  needed  Him  vastly 
more,  and  so  He  called  them  into  fellowship  with  Himself. 
Jesus  avoided  high-sounding  titles  during  his  ministry  but 
He  quietly  took  control  of  these  men.  He  became  their 
Lord  and  Master,  All  that  they  accomplished  later  they 
owed  directly  to  Him,  and  they  were  the  first  to  acknowl- 
edge it.  They  did  not  start  out  by  being  saints  or  theologians. 
They  began  by  associating  with  Jesus. 

No  doubt  they  found  the  teaching  of  the  Sermon  on  the 
Mount  as  high  and  hard  as  we  find  it  to-day.  They  could 
no  more  live  it  out  by  might  and  main  than  can  we.  But 
as  they  fellowshipped  with  Him  a  marvelous  thing  hap- 
pened. He  lived  Himself  into  their  lives.  His  spirit  perme- 
ated that  group  of  men.  They  found  themselves  thinking 
about  men  and  things  and  God  as  He  thought  about  them. 

And  then  came  the  terrible  days  when  He  set  his  face 
to  go  to  Jerusalem  to  challenge  for  the  last  time  the  nation 
He  loved  better  than  his  own  life.     They  followed  Him  to 

140 


THE  CAPITAL  CITY 

Jerusalem.  They  were  dazed  and  bewildered  by  the  tragic 
events  that  followed  in  quick  succession,  and  with  the  cruci- 
fixion hope  went  out  for  them.  They  were  like  men  who 
had  followed  a  star  over  hill  and  dale  until  the  star  set 
and  they  were  left  to  the  darkness  of  despair.  Intellectually 
they  seem  never  to  have  understood  Jesus  and  his  message. 
They  hoped  to  the  last  that  He  was  to  set  up  some  sort 
of  a  material  kingdom. 

And  yet  nothing  could  separate  them  from  the  spirit  of 
the  Master.  He  had  chosen  these  men  "that  they  might 
be  with  Him,"  and  even  the  terrible  death  of  the  Cross,  with 
its  black  background  of  Jewish  hate  and  Roman  might  could 
not  tear  Him  from  them.  When  the  Easter  morning  broke 
with  its  message  of  amazing  joy  and  hope,  these  men  re- 
newed their  allegiance  to  the  Lord  and  Master  and  faced 
a  hostile  world  with  triumphant  faith.  They  began  to  live 
the  Sermon  on  the  Mount,  not  so  much  because  they  had 
accepted  it  as  a  program,  as  that  the  spirit  of  Jesus  became 
the  ruling  motive  in  their  lives.  Paul  put  it  most  clearly 
when  he  said  of  his  own  experience,  "It  is  as  though  I 
were  no  longer  living  but  Christ  were  living  in  me." 

What  had  happened  to  these  men  so  to  transform  them? 
Jesus  had  led  them  to  the  capital  of  the  New  Order.  They 
had  been  on  a  journey  to  the  capital  during  the  days  and 
weeks  in  Judea  and  Galilee  and  Perea.  The  way  grew 
rough  and  steep  during  the  last  terrible  week  in  Jerusalem. 
And  for  a  moment  they  seemed  to  have  lost  the  path,  but 
the  light  of  the  Easter  morning  illumined  the  way  and  at 
last  they  came  to  the  city  of  God,  the  capital  of  the  New 
Order,  where  God  as  a  Father  maintains  his   rule  of  love. 

141 


THE  WAY  OF  CHRIST 

They  learned  by  experience  the  meaning  of   Christ's  words, 
"I  am  not  alone,  the  Father  is  with  me." 

Such  a  profound  inner  experience  came  to  these  men  in 
no  mysterious  fashion  but  in  the  simplest,  most  direct  way. 
The  spirit  of  Jesus  became  in  a  measure  their  own  spirit, 
because  they  spent  time  with  Him.  They  walked  with  Him, 
talked  with  Him,  listened  to  his  words  and  thought  much 
about  them.  They  held  frequent  friendly  talks  with  Him, 
when  the  very  secrets  of  their  innermost  lives  were  laid  bare 
to  his  tender,  healing,  correcting  gaze.  They  were  lifted  by 
this  daily  fellowship  into  something  of  the  likeness  of  their 
Master. 

In  the  same  direct,  simple  fashion  the  spirit  of  Jesus 
becomes  operative  in  the  lives  of  men  to-day.  Nothing  less 
than  a  constant  fellowship  with  Him  will  lead  us  to  the 
capital  of  the  New  Order.  We  are  to  listen  to  and  ponder 
well  his  words,  and  how  they  cut  through  all  pretense  and 
shallowness  and  reveal  the  issues  of  life  in  our  own  time ! 
We,  too,  must  lay  bare  our  inner  lives  to  his  purifying, 
strengthening  gaze.  We,  too,  must  claim  the  privileges  of 
daily  comradeship  with  Him  in  prayer.  And  it  may  be,  nay, 
it  will  be,  that  we  shall  be  lifted  into  his  likeness. 

But  he  who  has  come  to  the  capital  of  the  New  Order 
will  find  it  to  be  a  different  sort  of  city  than  he  had  expected. 
The  new  spirit  which  fellowship  with  Christ  creates  is  not 
in  the  least  a  spirit  of  self-satisfaction,  even  of  spiritual 
satisfaction.  It  is  the  spirit,  rather,  of  dissatisfaction  with 
all  the  inequalities  and  injustices  and  wrongs  of  our  common 
life.  It  is  the  spirit  which  leaps  with  joy  at  the  unexampled 
opportunities  for  service  to  humankind  which  our  world 
offers.     It  is  a  spirit  which  bids  us  stand  shoulder  to  shoul- 

142 


THE  CAPITAL  CITY 

der  with  Jesus  as  He  reads  to  our  stricken  world  the  same 
message  which  came  from  his  lips  at  Nazareth : 

The  Spirit  of  the  Lord  is  upon  me, 

Because  he  has  anointed  me  to  proclaim  Good  News  to 
the  poor; 

He  has  sent  me  to  announce  release  to  the  prisoners  of  war 
And  recovery  of  sight  to  the  blind; 
To  send  away  free  those  whom  tyranny  has  crushed, 
To  proclaim  the  year  of  acceptance  with  the  Lord. 

But  beyond  Nazareth  lay  Calvary  and  the  Cross.  When  He 
spoke  those  wonderful  words  at  Nazareth  He  accepted  the 
possibility  of  a  Cross  at  the  end  of  the  road.  As  the  Cross 
is  the  symbol  of  entire  devotion  to  the  will  of  God  it  was 
the  symbol  of  his  whole  life.  He  did  not  accept  the  Cross 
because  He  could  not  escape  it.  He  stedfastly  set  his  face 
toward  it.  He  poured  out  his  life  in  the  accomplishment  of 
the  glorious  program  which  He  had  read  in  the  Nazareth 
synagogue,  confident  that  God's  way  to  victory  is  the  way  of 
utter  devotion,  whatever  the  cost.  The  resurrection  was  and 
is  God's  affirmation  of  the  sublime  truth. 

Following  Jesus  Christ  will  mean,  then,  not  only  standing 
shoulder  to  shoulder  with  Him  as  He  pronounces  to  our 
world  the  message  of  individual  release  and  social  blessing, 
but  also  following  Him  even  to  the  Cross  of  utter  self- 
sacrifice,  confident  that  God  will  grant  us  through  Jesus 
Christ  that  same  assurance  of  victory. 


143 


A  TEACHING  OUTLINE 
"THE  WAY  OF  CHRIST" 

GENERAL  SUGGESTIONS 

1.  Get  a  general  view  of  the  course  by  reading  the  entire 
book  through,  noting  the  points  that  'especially  apply  to 
the  problems  of  your  group. 

2.  Study  the  Biblical  material  first  and  then  the  material  of 
the  chapter.  If  you  find  that  you  differ  with  the  author, 
go  back  to  the  Bible  and  see  where  he  gives  you  addi- 
tional  help. 

3.  In  planning  the  discussional  hour: — 

a.  Try  to  make  your  own  outline  before  you  refer  to 
the  one  suggested. 

b.  Begin  with  the  part  of  the  topic  that  will  interest 
the  group  most  and  lead  on  from  that. 

c.  Make  the  discussion  as  general  as  possible  by  asking 
questions  to  make  people  think  (see  Strayer:  Short 
Course  in  the  Teaching  Process,  Chapter  on  "Ques- 
tioning")  or  by  getting  many  opinions  on  a  point. 

4.  Ask  yourself  after  each  discussional  hour:  "What  ques- 
tions have  we  found  help  in  answering?  What  new 
questions  have  been  raised?" 


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TEACHING  OUTLINE  FOR  USE  OF  THE  LEADER 

Introductory  Lesson. 

(For  which  no  preparation  has  been  made  and  in  which 
time  must  be  taken  for  organization  of  the  group ;  yet  the 
discussion  must  be  interesting  enough  to  claim  attention  from 
the  first.) 

Preparation. 

1.  Look  up  the  Biblical  references  given  in  the  suggestions 
for  Personal  Study  for  Chapter  I  and  read  the  chapter  care- 
fully. 

2.  Supplement  this  description  of  the  kind  of  people  among 
whom  Jesus  spent  his  childhood  and  .boyhood,  by  reading  as 
many  of  the  following  references  as  possible : 

Glover:  Jesus  of  History,  Chapter  II. 

Smith :  Days  of  His  Flesh,  pp.  2-24. 

Kent:  Historical  Bible,  Volume  V  (Life  and  Teachings  of 
Jesus,  pp.  43-56). 

Any  good  life  of  Christ  which  will  give  you  a  picture  of 
the  contrast  between  the  worldly  Pharisees  and  the  simple, 
devout  peasants  among  whom  Jesus  lived. 

3.  What  were  the  principal  elements  in  the  environment 
of  Jesus'  childhood  and  boyhood? 

Discussional  Hour. 

I.  How  much  do  the  circumstances  in  which  a  person 
spends  his  childhood  and  the  people  he  knows  influence  him? 
Should  a  person  say,  "I  can't  help  it,  I  was  brought  up  that 

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way"?  What  is  the  place  of  will  in  growth?  What  environ- 
ment would  you  choose  for  a  child  who  was  to  be  a  leader? 
What   would   you   consider   most   important? 

2,  What  were  some  of  the  characteristics  of  Jesus'  envi- 
ronment? (Get  what  ideas  the  group  have  and  then  refer 
to  this  question  the  next  hour.) 

3.  What  influence  would  people  like  Zachariah,  Elizabeth 
and  Mary  be  likely  to  have?  (Have  the  members  of  the 
group  read  Luke  1:5-6;  46-55,  67-79-)  How  well  was  Jesus 
acquainted  with  the  great  religious  leaders  of  his  nation  in 
the  past?  (Isa.  29:13  with  Mk.  7:9;  Rosea  6:6  with  Mt. 
9:  13.)     What  influence  would  you  expect  this  to  have? 

Assignment  Questions. 

Why  should  Luke  have  chosen  only  one  incident  in  the 
boyhood  of  Jesus  to  tell  us?  (He  was  not  careless  in  his 
choice  of  material.  Bring  out  this  point  by  referring  to 
Luke  i:  1-4.)  Does  graduation  mark  the  beginning  of  a  life 
work?  When  did  Jesus'  life  work  begin?  (Study  for  next 
time  Luke  2:40-52.)  What  was  the  importance  of  his  home 
training,  the  religious  thinking  of  his  day,  his  own  awakening 
understanding?     (Study  Chapter  L) 

CHAPTER  I 

Theme:  What  effect  has  the  "set"  of  a  life  on  the  future? 

Preparation. 

I.  Re-study  the,  material  of  the  chapter  and  jot  down  the 
main  points  you  wish  to  bring  out  in  the  discussion. 

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THE  WAY  OF  CHRIST 

2.  Picture  to  yourself  the  incident  recorded  in  Luke 
2 :40-52,  thinking  carefully  of  its  relation  to  his  later  call. 
What  experiences  may  a  girl  or  boy  have  to-day  that  would 
be  comparable  to  Jesus'  experience  in  the  Temple? 

3.  Read  Luke  i :  5-25 ;  57-80.  Contrast  the  preparation  of 
John  with  that  of  Jesus.  Plan  to  bring  out  the  points  in  the 
preparation  of  Jesus  which  next  week  will  make  this  contrast 
clear  to  the  girls  (i.e.,  Jesus  grew  up  among  the  people  of 
a  small  town  in  every  day  human  relationships.  Next  week 
you  will  need  this  point  to  contrast  with  John's  desert  back- 
ground). 

THE  DISCUSSIONAL  HOUR 

1.  a.  Begin  with  the  assignment  questions  given  out  last 
week.  Find  out  what  the  group  thinks  about  the  time  when  a 
life  work  begins. 

b.  If  you  think  every  one  has  not  read  the  chapter,  review 
it  briefly,  trying  to  picture  clearly  the  visit  to  the  Temple 
and  the  discussion  with  the  teachers ;  what  they  talked  about, 
etc.  Get  this  from  the  group,  if  possible,  but  do  not  spend 
more  than  a  third  of  the  discussional  hour  on  it. 

2.  What  hopes  and  ideals  have  we  to-day  that  are  as  chal- 
lenging to  us  as  those  of  Jesus'  day  were  to  Him?  (See 
Chapter  I,  Sec.  2 :  Fosdick's  "Challenge  of  the  Present 
Crisis";  Dawson's  "Carry  On.")  How  much  of  the  whole 
meaning  of  "Christian  world  democracy"  need  we  understand 
before  determining  to  make  it  our  life  job?  Why  does  be- 
ginning to  work  at  a  thing  make  it  easier  to  understand? 

3.  What  did  the  "silent  years"  do  for  Jesus?     What  char- 

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acterizes  the  "silent  years"  of  the  average  student, — restless 
impatience,  inaifferent  "drifting,"  or  steady,  purposeful 
growth?  Why  are  students  being  urged  to  finish  college 
instead  of  going  at  once  into  war  work?  If  Jesus  could 
afford  to  wait  quietly  for  his  call  in  the  face  of  the  Jewish 
crisis,  cannot  we? 

4.  What  is  the  difference  between  pledging  a  part  of  our 
time  and  work,  and  pledging  ourselves?  Which  gives  "set" 
to  a  life?  We  are  being  asked  in  these  days  to  give  time 
and  money  constantly.  Is  there  a  greater  gift  we  have  still? 
Are  we  keeping  for  ourselves  the  greatest  gift, — "an  unex- 
hausted, untainted  potential  personality"?  Has  our  "Fa- 
ther's business"  become  of  supreme  importance  to  us? 

5.  What  testing  did  Jesus'  purpose  meet?  How  much 
would  mine   stand? 

Assignment  Questions. 

6.  a.  In  what  ways  does  the  call  to  action  come  to  those 
who  have  already  "set"  their  lives?  What  is  the  signifi- 
cance of  John  as  the  "forerunner  of  Jesus"?  Who  are  some 
of  the  forerunners  of  our  day?  (Socialists,  labor  agitators, 
etc.?)  What  made  John  great  enough  to  be  always  remem- 
bered?    (Read  Mt.  3:  1-12;  Mk.  i:  1-8.) 

b.  How  did  his  preparation  differ  from  that  of  Jesus? 
Does  a  different  job  demand  different  preparation?  (Read 
Luke  1:5-25,  57-80.) 

c.  What  constitutes  a  call  to  leadership?     (Mk.  i:o-ii.) 

d.  How  shall  we  test  the  greatness  of  leadership?  (Mt. 
4:  i-ii.) 


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THE  WAY  OF  CHRIST 

CHAPTER  II 
Preparation. 

1.  Get  dearly  before  your  own  mind  the  contrast  between 
the  "silent  years"  of  Jesus  and  of  John.  Try  to  see  John 
through  the  eyes  of  a  peasant  Jew  of  that  time — like  Andrew, 
for  instance.  (Biblical  references  and  material  of  Chapter 
II.) 

2.  Think  out  the  points  to  be  made  on  the  following  topics 
and  word  your  own  questions  before  comparing  them  with 
those   suggested   under   "Discussional   Hour": 

a.  The  elements  that  make  up  an  ideal  preparation  for 
citizenship  in  the  New  Order. 

b.  The  difference  between  being  the  Great  Herald  of 
the  New  Order  and  a  citizen  in  it. 

c.  The  adequacy  of  John's  message  for  the  world  situ- 
ation of  to-day.  The  further  need  of  Christ-like 
leadership. 

d.  The  reality  of  the  temptation  to  self-gratification, 
popularity  and  compromise,  and  the  concrete  ways 
they  manifest  themselves.  The  characteristics  of 
Christ-like  leadership. 

Discussional  Hour. 

I.  What  kind  of  tnvironment  would  you  choose  as  a  prepa- 
ration for  citizenship  in  the  New  Order?  (Refer  to  Chap- 
ter I.)  Compare  the  preparation  of  Lincoln  with  that  of 
President  Wilson.  Compare  the  preparation  of  John  with 
that  of  Jesus.  What  are  the  necessary  elements  that  any  kind 
of   preparation   must   have? 

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A  TEACHING  OUTLINE 

2.  Can  a  man  be  the  herald  of  a  great  cause  and  yet  not 
have  a  part  in  its  final  accomplishment?  Can  you  illustrate 
from  college  life?  What  is  the  difference  between  being  the 
Herald  of  the  New  Order  and  a  citizen  in  it?  Compare 
the  relation  of  Jesus  and  John  to  the  New  Order. 

3.  Read  in  class  Luke  3 :  1-20.  Has  the  convincing  note 
of  hope,  and  the  challenge  to  conscience  any  parallel  in  our 
day?  What?  Can  what  we  are  fighting  for  be  attained  with- 
out both  of  these?  Do  they  together  constitute  an  adequate 
message  for  our  times?  Why?  What  more  is  needed  besides 
a  message?  Why  did  John  also  proclaim  his  own  secondary 
place  of  leadership?  What  was  there  in  the  preaching  of 
John  to  call  Jesus  from  Nazareth?  What  is  the  significance 
of   Christ-like  leadership  to-day? 

4.  Get  the  group  to  re-state  the  temptations  of  Jesus  in 
modern  terms.  To  what  extent  does  every  leader  face  these 
same  temptations?  By  what  three  tests  shall  we  judge  the 
greatness  of  leadership?  What  do  you  believe  to  be  the 
essential  characteristics  of  leadership  in  the  New  Order? 

Assignment  Questions. 

5.  How  does  one  go  to  work  to  establish  any  New  Order 
of  things  (such  as  student  government,  honor  system,  etc.)  ? 
How  far  can  a  popular  movement  be  utilized?  What  shall 
we  do  with  the  Old  Order?  Which  is  harder — to  destroy  it 
or  build  on  it?  Which  is  better?  How  are  we  to  meet  fail- 
ure, opposition  and  popularity?  To  follow  up  this  question 
look  up  the  Suggestions  for  Personal  Study,  Chapter  HI. 


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CHAPTER  III 

Theme:  Our  methods  of  establishing  the  New  Order  must 
be  statesmanhke  as  Jesus'  were. 

Preparation. 

1,  The  "Suggestions  for  Study"  might  be  used  by  the 
leader  as  a  guide  in  planning  the  discussional  hour  after  the 
chapter   has    been    carefully    studied. 

Emphasize  concrete  illustrations  from  your  own  campus. 

2.  Or,  the  discussional  hour  may  be  planned  as  suggested 
below. 

Discussional  Hour. 

1.  Under  what  circumstances  can  a  "new  order"  (such  as 
student  government  or  the  honor  system)  be  successfully 
started?  Can  you  think  of  any  college  reforms  that  have 
failed  because  the  leaders  were  too  impatient?  Compare 
this  with  Jesus'  patient  waiting  until  the  crusade  of  John 
gave  Him  an  opening.  How  can  the  widespread  desire  to 
give  patriotic  service  help  us  to  a  deeper  understanding  of 
Christian  service  as  a  purpose  for  the  whole  of  our  lives? 

2.  How  far  can  an  "old  order"  be  utilized  in  building  the 
new  one?  Compare  Mt.  3:  1-12  with  Mk.  i:  14-15  and  Luke 
15:11-24.  What  elements  in  John's  message  did  Jesus  use 
in  his  earlier  preaching?  Did  He  later  stress  other  things 
more?  What  elements  in  such  popular  movements  as 
socialism,  tht  labor  movement,  etc.,  can  be  used  in  establish- 
ing a  Christian  democracy  in  the  world? 

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A  TEACHING  OUTLINE 

3.  The  establishment  of  a  new  order  is  never  clear  sail- 
ing. What  effect  do  apparent  failure,  opposition  or  popu- 
larity usually  have  on  people?  How  do  you  believe  they  can 
be  met?     Illustrate  from  your  own  campus  or  community. 

How  did  Jesus  meet  opposition,  apparent  failure  or  popu- 
larity? (See  Sees.  2  and  3  of  the  chapter.)  li  the  group  is 
not  fairly  familiar  with  the  chapter,  you  could  distribute  the 
following  references  and  questions  on  slips  of  paper  and  give 
them  five  minutes  to  think  them  over : 

a.  John  2 :  13-22.  Try  to  imagine  what  it  would  mean 
to  Jesus  to  come  back  to  the  Temple  where  He  had 
listened  to  the  scholars  to  find  it  the  center  of  legal- 
ized graft. 

b.  John  4:  1-2.  How  would  Jesus  feel  about  the  rivalry 
that  threatened  the  "friendship  which  had  made 
possible  the  beginnings  of  his  work"? 

c.  Why  was  it  "statesmanlike  acumen"  on  Jesus'  part 
to  turn  to  Galilee  after  the  failure  in  Judea? 

d.  Skim  through  the  first  chapter  of  Mark  and  pick 
out  what  evidence  you  find  of  the  rapid  popularity 
of  Jesus   in   Galilee. 

e.  Illustrate  the  opposition  of  the  Pharisees  from  any 
incidents    you   remember. 

f.  How  did  Jesus  change  the  character  of  his  teaching 
in  order  to  sift  the  crowd?     Mark  4:  12. 

g.  Having  faced  apparent  failure,  opposition  and  popu- 
larity, what  course  was  left  to  Him? 

4,  Why  was  Jesus  "never  so  truly  the  statesman  as  when 
He  set  his  face  to  go  to  Jerusalem"?  What  is  the  "states- 
manship of   sacrifice" ? 

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THE  WAY  OF  CHRIST 

Assignment  Questions. 

What  do  you  believe  the  world  most  needs  to-day?  In 
your  own  college?     In  your  own  community? 

CHAPTER  IV 

Theme:  Why  does  Jesus'  idea  of  the  New  Order  offer  us 
hopes   for  the   future? 

Preparation. 

1.  Think  back  over  all  the  articles  relating  to  the  present 
crisis  that  you  have  read  and  get  clearly  before  your  mind 
what  seem  to  you  the  three  or  four  greatest  needs  the  world 
has  to-day.  If  possible  refer  to  "The  Challenge  of  the  Pres- 
ent Crisis"  by  Fosdick. 

2.  Now  try  to  study  the  Biblical  references  as  if  you  had 
never  seen  them  before  and  were  looking  at  them  as  a  brand- 
new  suggestion  for  the  solution  of  our  present  problems. 
Characterize  the  main  points  for  yourself. 

3.  After  these  two  steps  you  will  be  ready  to  study  the 
chapter  and  to  add  to  your  notes  what  you  think  will  espe- 
cially need  to  be  brought  out  with  your  group.  Use  some  of 
the  questions  in  the  "Suggestions  for  Personal  Study"  in 
making  your  outline   for  the  discussional  hour. 

Discussional  Hour. 

I.  Get  from  the  group  their  ideas  of  the  supreme  need  of 
the  world  to-day.     In  what  words  do  we  express  our  aims 

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and  hopes  for  the  future?  What  do  ive  call  the  New  Order? 
Jesus  used  the  terminology  familiar  to  his  nation.  What  was 
his  name  for  it? 

2.  Give  each  member  of  the  group  a  chance  to  report  on 
the  references  which  they  have  studied.  Then  have  the  out- 
standing characteristics  of  the  New  Order  as  Jesus  set  it 
forth  summed  up.     Use  a  blackboard  if  possible. 

3.  Choose  one  topic,  such  as  The  New  Order's  Inestimable 
Value  (or  more  if  you  have  time),  and  see  what  significance 
it  would  have  to-day.  What  values  to-day  are  men  willing 
to   die    for? 

4.  Go  back  to  your  discussion  of  the  supreme  need  of  the 
world  as  you  saw  it  and  compare  with  Jesus'  teaching  about 
the  New  Order.  Why  should  Christians  believe  that  the 
New  Order  will  fulfill  the  world's  need? 

Assignment  Questions. 

What  part  will  this  group  have  in  establishing  such  a  New 
Order?  What  are  the  conditions  of  citizenship  that  must 
first   be    met? 

Study  these  individual  cases  and  think  out  the  conditions : 

(a)  Mk.  I  :  16-20;  2:  13,  14, 

(b)  Mk.  5:  18-20  (esp.  V.  19). 

(c)  Luke  19:  i-io. 

(d)  Mt.  19:  16-20. 


15s 


THE  WAY  OF  CHRIST 


CHAPTER  V 

Theme:  What  will  bring  about  the  "transformed  and  en- 
ergized personality"  necessary  to  living  in  the  New 
Order? 

Preparation. 

1.  Look  up  everything  you  can  find  about  the  experiences 
of  such  men  as  Grenfell  and  Moody  in  becoming  citizens  of 
the  New  Order.     Other  references  to  use  are : 

Burton :  Comrades  in  Service ;  Notable  Women  of  Modern 
China. 
Begbie :   Twice  Born   Men. 

2.  Study  the  stories  of  some  of  the  men  who  became 
citizens  in  Jesus'  own  day  and  Jesus'  own  teaching  about 
citizenship.  What  do  you  think  are  the  conditions?  (See 
"Suggestions   for  Personal   Study.") 

3.  When  you  study  the  chapter  see  if  you  and  the  author 
diflfer  about  the  conditions  of  citizenship.  Find  out  why  he 
thinks  as  he  does. 

Discussional  Hour. 

1.  What  do  we  expect  of  a  new  student  in  his  attitude 
towards  the  college?  Of  a  new  member  in  a  fraternity? 
Why  are  we  especially  indignant  at  "hyphenated  Americans"? 
What  does  citizenship  in  a  college  or  the  United  States 
mean? 

2.  Jesus  called  men  to  citizenship  in  a  New  Order.  Let 
members  of  the  group  tell  the  stories  of  the  Gerasene  de- 

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A  TEACHING  OUTLINE 

moniac,  the  fishermen  and  Matthew,  Zaccheus,  and  the  rich 
young  man.  Can  you  pick  out  from  these  stories  the  condi- 
tions of  citizenship?  When  the  group  has  brought  out  as 
many  points  as  possible,  distribute  the  different  references 
given  in  the  first  part  of  the  Bibhcal  Material  (to  give  further 
light  on  such  points  as :  Repent  and  believe,  appreciation,  re- 
ceptivity, counting  the  cost,  etc.).  How  would  you  describe 
the  conditions  of  citizenship  in  terms  of  to-day  to  one  who 
was  not  a  Christian? 

3.  Take  such  key  phrases  as  the  following: 
Repentance, — "that    moral    renovation    of    the    entire    life." 
Belief, — "the    launching    of    the    entire    personality    in    the 

service  of  the  Kingdom." 

4,  Can  you  find  any  cases  where  fulfilling  the  conditions 
did  not  result  in  a  transformed  life?  Did  Jesus  expect  it 
to  always  express  itself  in  the  same  way?  (Recall  the  Gera- 
sene  demoniac  versus  the  fishermen).  How  would  the  "trans- 
formed life"  manifest  itself  in  your  college  or  community 
if  men  should  actually  follow  the  leadership  of  Jesus? 

Who  are  the.  people  to-day  who  answer  the  call  of  Jesus 
for  such  a  transformation  in  life  purposes  and  attitudes? 
Are  they  all  among  those  we  call  Christians?  What  is  hold- 
ing men  back  from  full  citizenship  in  the  New  Order?  Can 
we  expect  that  the  New  Order  will  make  less  exacting  de- 
mands than  our  own  country  at  war? 

Assignment  Questions. 

What  kind  of  a  person  would  you  call  an  "ideal  citizen"? 
Can  you  re-write  Mt.  5:  1-12  in  modern  terms?     Bring  it 
to  the  next  discussion  hour. 

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THE  WAY  OF  CHRIST 


CHAPTER  VI 

Theme:  Will  the  Ideal  Citizen  as  Jesus  pictured  him  sat- 
isfy us  in  the  New  Order  for  which  we  hope? 

Preparation. 

1.  If  you  have  a  half-acknowledged  idea  that  the  Ideal 
Citizen  pictured  in  Mt.  5 :  1-12  is  a  rather  impossible  person 
whom  nobody  would  want  to  be  or  know  (and  many  of  us 
if  we  are  honest  have  to  confess  to  some  such  idea),  you 
may  be  pretty  sure  that  your  group  thinks  the  same  way 
and  you  will  want  to  answer  the  question  in  the  Theme  for 
yourself  in  order  to  help  them  think  it  out. 

2.  Why  not  begin  by  thinking  of  the  people  in  your  col- 
lege or  community  whom  you  believe  make  the  best  citizens? 
(Keep  in  mind  Jesus'  idea  of  a  new  order  and  your  con- 
clusions after  studying  Chap.  IV.)  What  characteristics 
stand  out  especially?  What  do  you  mean  by  power?  How 
is  it  different  from  bluster?  Why  do  we  use  the  words 
"quiet  power"?  Who  are  the  most  powerful  people  you 
know? 

Then  think  back  over  a  month  of  college  and  see  where 
an  ideal  citizen  would  have  acted  differently  from  any  of  the 
students   you  know. 

3.  Describe  to  yourself  an  ideal  citizen  in  the .  new  order 
we  are  trying  to  establish.  Re-write  the  Beatitudes  in  terms 
of  to-day.     How  near  alike  are  the  two  pictures? 

4.  This   week  make  your  own   outline   for  the   discussion 

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A  TEACHING  OUTLINE 

hour,   working   in   any   of   the   following   questions   that   you 
need. 

Discussional  Hour. 

Questions  that  may  be  used  by  leader  in  planning  the 
hour: 

What  is  an  ideal  Freshman  (or  Sophomore,  Junior  or 
Senior)    like? 

How  many  characteristics  that  belong  to  the  ideal  citizen 
of  a  college  (or  any  other  community)  can  you  find  in 
Jesus'  picture  of  the  ideal  citizen?     (Mt.  5:  1-12,) 

When  you  look  at  Jesus  (who  was  genuinely  the  Ideal 
Citizen)  what  does  meekness  (humility)  mean?  Did  He  lack 
force  of  character?     (Read  in  class  John  2:13-16.) 

What  new  meanings  can  you  find  for  the  other  Beatitudes 
when    you    study    Jesus? 

What  would  happen  if  people  and  nations  used  this  ideal 
of  citizenship  as   a   working  principle? 

Assignment  Questions. 

Which  is  easier  as  a  citizen  of  a  college  to-day,  to  obey 
a  set  of  rules  made  for  you  or  to  abide  by  the  attitude  of 
self-government?      Which   gets    the   best    results?      Why? 

Can  you  tell  from  the  5th  and  6th  chapters  of  Matthew 
what  Jesus  gave  his  friends  instead  of  rules? 

CHAPTER  VH 

Theme:  Not  rules  but  attitudes  mark  the  Ideal  Citizen  as 
Jesus  described  him. 

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Preparation. 

1.  When  you  have  answered  the  first  three  questions  in 
the  suggested  assignment,  you  will  be  ready  to  read  the 
introduction  to  the  chapter.  What  does  the  author  add  to 
your    conclusions? 

2.  In  three  parallel  columns  on  a  note-book  page  headed 
"The  Ideal  Citizen's  Attitude  Towards  (i)  People,  (2)  Things, 
(3)  God"  jot  down,  as  you  find  it  in  studying  the  references 
given  in  the  Biblical  material,  whatever  makes  the  inner 
attitude  of  the  Ideal  Citizen  different  from  that  of  one  not 
a  citizen.  If  you  use  abstract  words  like  "graciousness"  be 
sure  to  illustrate  with  concrete  incidents  and  use  the  chapter 
material  after  the  Bible  itself. 

Discussional  Hour. 

1.  Get  the  opinton  of  the  group  on  the  relative  values  of 
a  set  of  rules  and  self-government.  Will  copying  the  man- 
ners and  clothes  of  a  popular  student  make  an  unpopular 
student  liked?  What  will?  Tell  the  group  the  story  of 
"The    Frogs." 

2.  Divide  the  group  into  three  parts,  give  one  the  refer- 
ences for  the  citizen's  attitude  towards  "people,"  one  those 
for  "things"  and  the  third  those  for  "God."  Suggest  that 
they  take  ten  minutes  to  determine  the  inner  attitudes  towards 
"people"  (fellow  students,  professors,  maids  in  dormitories, 
foreigners,  under-classmen,  etc.),  towards  "things"  (exami- 
nations, "eats,"  clothes,  societies,  etc.)  and  towards  God, 
that   mark   the    Ideal    Citizen. 

You  may  want  also  to  use  such  questions  as: 

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A  TEACHING  OUTLINE 

Why  is  it  so  hard  to  get  along  with  people? 

How  does  my  attitude  towards  the  foreign  student  resemble 
that  of  the  small  boy  who  calls  "Chink"  after  him?  How  far 
is  such  an  attitude  in  the  world  responsible  for  the  war? 

How  would  "simplicity"  as  an  attitude  towards  "things" 
affect  both  cramming  for  or  bluffing  through  an  exami- 
nation ? 

Does  my  life  "consist  in"  the  number  of  societies  to  which 
I  belong?  Does  a  nation's  life  "consist  in"  the  proportion 
of  its  commercial  power? 

3.  Ask  each  part  of  the  group  to  report  their  discussion 
in  three  minutes   apiece. 

How  would  you  summarize  the  inner  attitude  of  the  Ideal 
Citizen?     (See  Mt.  6:2>2>-) 

Can  the  war  be  truly  "won"  until  this  "search"  becomes 
the  "consuming  passion"  of  our  lives?  Where  and  when 
does  the  "search"  begin? 

Assignment  Questions. 

What  fundamental  law  guides  this  search  which  is  to  carry 
us  into  new  relationships  with  people  and  God?  Can  you 
translate  I  Cor.   13  into  modern  college  terms? 

"It  has  always  been  orthodox  to  believe  in  loving  one's 
neighbor,  but  it  has  always  been  startling  when  people  really 
tried  to  do  it."  Will  you  try  this  week  to  find  out  by  experi- 
ment just  how  "startling"  it  is  to  apply  honestly  the  funda- 
mental  law   of   love? 


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CHAPTER  VIII 

Theme:  The  law  of  love  is  the  motive  power  of  the  New 
Order  applicable  to  each  part  of  its  program. 

Preparation. 

1.  Paul  did  not  give  a  definition  of  love  in  I  Cor,  13,  but 
he  did  tell  what  resulted  when  you  made  it  the  motive.  Read 
I  Cor.  13  through  slowly  in  either  the  Weymouth  or  Moffatt 
translations. 

2.  Our  author  suggests  certain  popular  notions  of  what 
love  is.  What  happens  when  we  think  of  it  as  "amicable 
dooryard  diplomacy,"  "emergency  legislation."  etc.?  (See 
chapter  material.)  Study  the  references  in  Biblical  material 
(2)  and  (3).  Have  you  thought  before  of  brotherhood 
and   love?     Are  they  the   same? 

3.  Review  the  summary  the  group  made  of  Chapters  V 
and  VI.  What  meaning  for  "love"  will  make  it  an  effective 
motive  power  for  such  citizenship? 

Discussional  Hour. 

1.  From  your  experiments  this  week  can  you  suggest 
why  the  world  has  never  been  willing  to  accept  the  funda- 
mental law  of  Christianity? 

2.  Is  love  a  sentiment?  Is  it  "emergency  legislation"? 
"amicable  dooryard  diplomacy"?  Get  the  group  to  illustrate 
these  incomplete  definitions  of  love  and  tell  why  they  do 
not  work.    What  meaning  for  love  does  brotherhood  express? 

3.  What  kind  of  person  would  this  law  produce  if  it  be- 

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came  the  motive  power  of  a  life?  Compare  with  your  study 
of  the  Ideal  Citizen  and  his  inner  attitudes.  How  far  will 
this  work  between  nations?  Illustrate  from  the  programs  of 
the  "League  for  Peace,"  a  "league  of  nations."  etc. 

Assignment  Questions. 

Can  the  law  of  love  be  made  effective  by  individual 
citizens  working  separately?  Why?  Before  next  week  try 
to  paraphrase  Luke  4:  16-22  as  expressing  Jesus'  idea  of  the 
way  citizens  of  the  New  Order  will  go  to  work.  Who  are 
our  "blind"?  Are  all  our  "prisoners"  in  Germany?  How 
are  we  to  "free"  those  in  Sing  Sing  prison? 

CHAPTER  IX 

Theme:  The   result  in   a   society  of  citizens   working  to- 
gether for  the   New   Order. 

Preparation. 

Supplement  the  "Suggestions  for  Personal  Study"  with  any 
of  the   following  references : 
Ward :    Social   Creed  of  the   Churches,   Chap.   IV. 
Scudder :   Church  and  the  Hour,  Introduction. 
Rauschenbusch :   Christianizing  the  Social  Order. 
Reports  of  the  Child  Labor  Bureau   (sent  from  Washing- 
ton on  request). 
Current  numbers  oi  The  Survey. 

Discussional  Hour. 

I.  Which  is  more  to  blame,  the  student  who  cheats  in 
examination    or    the    public    opinion    of    the    college    which 

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encourages  him  "not  to  let  his  work  interfere  with  his  col- 
lege education"?  Where  does  the  burden  of  responsibility 
rest  for  the  girl  who  seeks  unsafe  amusement,  with  the  girl 
or  the  community  which  fails  to  provide  a  chance  for  clean 
fun?  Can  you  suggest  other  questions  like  these?  (Use 
illustrations  given  in  the  chapter.) 

2.  Have  two  or  three  in  the  group  read  their  paraphrases 
of  Luke  4:  16-22.  Draw  out  (by  questions  chosen  from  the 
Suggestions  for  Personal  Study  or  worded  by  the  leader 
beforehand)  a  discussion  of  what  responsibility  Christians 
have  for  the  "poor,"  those  who  are  "prisoners,"  etc. 

3.  Why  should  we  be  working  together  as  Ideal  Citizens? 
What  is  our  goal?  What  tools  have  we  to  use?  (Legislation, 
playgrounds,  etc.)  Will  these  things  alone  accomplish  our 
purpose?  What  bearing  has  this  on  our  discussion  of  inner 
attitudes?  Will  the  right  inner  attitude  come  by  waiting 
while  we  leave  undone  the  task  of  ''bearing  one  another's 
burdens"? 

Assignment  Questions. 

Is  Christianity  a  matter  of  "oughts"  and  "ought  nots"? 
We  say  frequently,  "I  draw  the  line."  Where?  At  what 
people  and  actions?  When  do  boundary  lines  become  un- 
necessary? 

CHAPTER  X 

Theme:  The  New  Order  of  Jesus  can  become  the  new 
order  for  our  world  just  because  it  is  not  a  nezv  program 
but  a  new  life. 

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A  TEACHING  OUTLINE 

Preparation. 

In  addition  to  the  Suggestions  for  Personal  Study  read 
Glover:  Jesus  of  History,  Chap.  V.  (Also  Chap.  Ill  and  IV 
if  possible.) 

Discussional  Hour. 

1.  Use  the  questions  at  the  end  of  the  previous  hour  to 
start  the  discussion,  drawing  out  a  few  of  our  special 
''boundary  lines"  (our  "oughts"  and  "ought  iiots"),  but  try 
not  to  take  more  than  six  or  seven  minutes  on  this  point. 
What  Pharisaical  traditions  exist  in  the  average  college? 
How  do  these  correspond  with  the  "boundary  lines"  of 
Jesus'   day? 

2.  Unless  the  group  has  studied  the  chapter  thoroughly 
enough  to  discuss  it,  first  give  out  the  following  references 
on  slips  of  paper  to  be  read  over  in  five  minutes : 

Mk.  2:1-12;  Mk.  2:13-17;  Mk.  2:18-22;  Mk.  2:23-28; 
Mk.  3:1-6;  Mt.  18:21-22;  Mk.  10:17-31. 

What  was  Jesus'  answer  to  the  rich  young  ruler  as  our 
author  paraphrases  it?  Why  does  not  such  "cutting  loose" 
end  in  disaster?  What  is  the  difference  between  this  and 
license? 

3.  The  world  has  tried  programs  and  failed.  Why  will 
a  "new  life"  succeed?  Would  it  be  easier  to  live  in  the 
spirit  of  the  Beatitudes  or  according  to  the  Jewish  law? 
Why?  What  made  the  friends  of  Jesus  eager  to  attempt 
the  harder  task  and  increasingly  triumphant  in  it? 

4.  Are  we  honestly  willing  to  test  our  desire  for  the  com- 
ing of  the  New  Order  by  the  measure  of  our  commitment 
to   fellowship  with  Jesus,  not  alone  when  the  crowds  hung 

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THE  WAY  OF  CHRIST 

on    his   words,    but   also   when   He    "set   his   face   to   go   to 
Jerusalem"? 

REVIEW  LESSON 

The  last  discussional  hour  should  be  truly  a  "re-v'iew"  of 
the  questions  raised  and  answered  in  the  previous  discus- 
sions. Only  two  or  three  ways  of  doing  this  are  suggested 
here.     What  others  can  you  think  of? 

1.  Ask  the  members  of  the  group  to  bring  with  them  the 
three  most  significant  questions  raised  in  the  course. 

2.  Work  out  with  the  group  the  main  points  you  would 
try  to  make  in  explaining  Jesus'  New  Order  to  a  Japanese 
factory  worker  or  to  a  Chinese  student. 

3.  Try  to  write  a  prayer  that  a  citizen  of  the  New  Order 
might  pray.  (Remember  the  perfect  prayer,  but  do  not 
merely  copy.) 


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